Search results for ""Seal Press""

Thirty woman travellers share their true-life tales of solo adventures from around the world. Inspiring, original and wholly engrossing.

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Sometimes your foundation crumbles. Sometimes you realize there wasn't a foundation to begin with. Maybe your relationship ended in a breakup or divorce, or you lost your job, or a loved one died. Whatever crisis showed up to screw with you, it brought everything else crashing down, and suddenly life became confusing, disorienting, out of control. A total shit show. You. Need. Help.Therein lies the problem: Traditional self-help guides just aren't for you. You're an individualist, an iconoclast, a follow-your-own-drumbeat kind of person. The typical sunshine-and-rainbows, 'live your best life!' books in the 'personal growth' aisle aren't going to speak to your worldview--you need an embrace-your-weirdness vision for growth and rebuilding. Enter Ariel Meadow Stallings, who has experienced a few life catastrophes of her own and emerged from them with newfound clarity and strength. In From Sh!tshow to Afterglow, she offers a lifeline of support and outside-the-box thinking for times of crisis and confusion, sharing plenty of tactical tips for getting your shit together. Along the way, she never lets readers forget that sometimes a life has to be taken apart before it can be put back together better than ever.Without sugar-coating how deeply it sucks to have your world shattered, From Sh!tshow to Afterglow gives readers a reassuring plan for putting the pieces back together and emerging stronger than ever.

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Crappy homes, lame love lives, getting passed over for a great job (again)-not what we expected for our adulthoods. Americans tell their children you can become anything! But let's face it-most of us can't. Sure, some of our peers go on to become astronauts or billionaires. But most of us don't. In Average Is the New Awesome, Samantha Matt offers encouragement to us regular humans. Full of hilarious stories and insightful advice, this is a manifesto for ordinary awesomeness-for the beauty that can be found when we acknowledge that good enough really is good enough and that greatness is ours to define.

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Abby Chava Stein was raised in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, profoundly isolated in a culture that lives according to the laws and practices of an eighteenth-century Eastern European enclave, speaking only Yiddish and Hebrew and shunning modern life. Stein was born as the first son in a rabbinical dynastic family, poised to become a leader of the next generation of Hasidic Jews. But Stein felt certain at a young age that she was a girl. Without access to TV or the internet and never taught English, she suppressed her desire for a new body while looking for answers wherever she could find them, from forbidden religious texts to smuggled secular examinations of faith. Finally, she orchestrated a personal exodus from ultra-Orthodox manhood into mainstream femininity-a radical choice that forced her to leave her home, her family and her way of life.

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Bill Cosby's decades-long career as a sweater-wearing, wholesome TV dad came to a swift and stunning end on April 26, 2018, when he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. The mounting allegations against Bill Cosby--more than 60 women have come forward to accuse him of similar crimes--and his ultimate conviction were a shock to Americans, who wanted to cleave to their image of Cosby as a pudding-pop hero. Award-winning journalist and former People magazine senior writer Nicki Weisensee Egan was the first reporter to dig into the story when Constand went to the police in 2005. Other news organizations looked away, but Egan doggedly investigated the case, developing ties with entrenched sources and discovering incriminating details that would ultimately come to influence the prosecution.In her debut book, Chasing Cosby, Egan shares her firsthand account of Cosby's 13-year run from justice. She tells us how Cosby planned and executed his crimes, and how Hollywood alliances and law enforcement knew what Cosby was doing but did nothing to stop him. A veteran crime reporter, Egan also explores the cultural and social issues that influenced the case, delving into the psychological calculations of a serial predator and into the psyche of a nation that fervently wanted to put their faith in the innocence of "American's Dad."Rich in character and rife with dramatic revelations about popular culture, media power, and our criminal system, Egan's account will inform and fascinate readers with its candid telling of humanity's most enduring tale: the rise and fall of a cultural icon.

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A celebration of the author's art, a rallying read for women who are fed up with their own harassment experiences and a statement on how pervasive the problem of street harassment really is, this is a singular and important book. Sitting at the cross-section of social activism, art, community engagement and feminism, Stop Telling Women To Smile brings to the page the author's arresting and famous street art-featuring the faces and voices of everyday women as they talk about the experience of living in communities that are supposed to be their homes yet are frequently hostile. Among the lessons of the #metoo movement is that countless women experience harassment, and that women are more eager than ever to share experiences and recognise common oppression. Fazlalizadeh has been contributing to these conversations through her street art since 2012. This perfectly timed, singular collection of profiles, short essays and original artwork unforgettably shows how it affects women based on gender presentation, race, class, age and other intersecting identities.

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When Brooke Axtell was seven years old, her nanny subjected her to sex trafficking. Today, she is a champion and advocate for women around the world who have experienced sexual violence and trauma.Beautiful Justice shares Brooke's own gripping story, both the trauma of sex trafficking and also her pathway through healing, moving on, and reclaiming power. Along the way, she imparts warm wisdom for others who have experienced similar violence, providing lessons from her own life and from the thousands of women, advocates, and lawmakers she's spoken with. Relying on her own experiences and a keen awareness of public policy, she provides a clear-eyed awareness of the ways that our culture and government work against women experiencing violence around the world. Inspiring and powerfully redemptive, Brooke encourages readers to take part in a creative resistance as a path to justice.

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When we talk about sex, we talk about women as mysterious, deceptive, and - above all - untrustworthy. Women lie about orgasms. Women lie about being virgins. Women lie about who got them pregnant, about whether they were raped, about how many people they've had sex with and what sort of experiences they've had - the list goes on and on. Over and over we're reminded that, on dates, in relationships, and especially in the bedroom, women just aren't telling the truth. But where does this assumption come from? Are women actually lying about sex, or does society just think we are?In Faking It, Lux Alptraum tackles the topic of seemingly dishonest women; investigating whether women actually lie, and what social situations might encourage deceptions both great and small. Using her experience as a sex educator and former CEO of Fleshbot (the foremost blog on sexuality), first-hand interviews with sexuality experts and everyday women, Alptraum raises important questions: are lying women all that common - or is the idea of the dishonest woman a symptom of male paranoia? Are they trying to please men, or just trying to trick and trap them? And what affect does all this dishonesty - whether real or imagined - have on women's self-images, social status, and safety? Through it all, Alptraum posits that even if women are lying, we're doing it for very good reason--to protect ourselves ("My boyfriend will be here any minute," to a creep who won't go away, for one), and in situations where society has given us no other choice.

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Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Chapters cover the transsexual and transvestite communities in the years following World War II; trans radicalism and social change, which spanned from 1966 with the publication of The Transsexual Phenomenon, and lasted through the early 1970s; the mid-'70s to 1990-the era of identity politics and the changes witnessed in trans circles through these years; and the gender issues witnessed through the '90s and '00s.Transgender History includes informative sidebars highlighting quotes from major texts and speeches in transgender history and brief biographies of key players, plus excerpts from transgender memoirs and discussion of treatments of transgenderism in popular culture.

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As typical as donor-conceived children have become, with at least a million such children in the US alone, their experiences are still unusual in many ways. In Scattered Seeds, journalist and writer Jacqueline Mroz looks at the growth of sperm donation and assisted reproduction and how it affects the children who are born, the women who buy and use the sperm to have kids, and the sperm donors who donate their genetic material to help others procreate. With empathy and in-depth analysis, Scattered Seeds explores the sociology, psychology, and anthropology surrounding those connected with fertility procedures today and looks back at the history that brought us to this point.The personal stories in this book will put a human face on the issues and help to illuminate this country's controversial and troubling unregulated fertility industry-an industry that has been compared to the Wild, Wild West, where anything goes. What is the human cost of our country's unregulated fertility industry? How are the lives of sperm-donor families changed? Scattered Seeds will answer those questions, considering carefully the social and psychological dynamics surrounding those connected with fertility procedures today.

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Rupa Mehta, called a pint-sized guru" by Vogue and the Rachael Ray of Fitness" by the New York Post , has helped thousands of people on their journey to physical and emotional wellness from her New York fitness studio. Now, with The Nalini Method , Rupa brings her revolutionary techniques for shedding emotional weight and achieving balance of body and mind to the wider world with a gorgeous and fun full-colour book. The Nalini Method is an innovative mood-based fitness plan that fuses yoga, Pilates, strengthening exercises, and barre work to help participants lose emotional weight and find emotional fitness,transforming both mind and body in the process. Rupa's dynamic techniques synthesize Western and Eastern approaches to create an accessible program that's as challenging as it is fun. The workouts of The Nalini Method help participants find balance within seven different moods: Anger Energy Stress Chill Happiness Doubt AnxietyIn addition, Rupa includes recipes for six unique and delicious mood foods" to help maintain energy and balance along the way.With tips and resources to help any woman achieve her fitness goals every day, The Nalini Method blazes a new and exciting trail to physical and emotional well-being.

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It has been decades since women of color first turned feminism upside down, exposing the feminist movement as exclusive, white, and unaware of the concerns and issues of women of color from around the globe. Since then, key social movements have risen, including Black Lives Matter, transgender rights, and the activism of young undocumented students. Social media has also changed how feminism reaches young women of color, generating connections in all corners of the country. And yet we remain a country divided by race and gender.Now, a new generation of outspoken women of color offer a much-needed fresh dimension to the shape of feminism of the future. In Colonize This!, Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman have collected a diverse, lively group of emerging writers who speak to the strength of community and the influence of color, to borders and divisions, and to the critical issues that need to be addressed to finally reach an era of racial freedom. With prescient and intimate writing, Colonize This! will reach the hearts and minds of readers who care about the experience of being a woman of color, and about establishing a culture that fosters freedom and agency for women of all races.

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Now in its updated second edition, Full Frontal Feminism is a book that continues to embody the forward-looking messages that author Jessica Valenti propagated as founder of the popular website, Feministing.com. Full Frontal Feminism is a smart and relatable guide to the issues that matter to today's young women. This edition includes a new foreword by Valenti, reflecting upon what's happened in the seven years since Full Frontal Feminism was originally published. With new openers from Valenti in every chapter, the book covers a range of topics, including pop culture, health, reproductive rights, violence, education, relationships, and more.Chapters include:You're a Hardcore Feminist. I Swear. Feminists Do It Better (and Other Sex Tips) Pop Culture Gone Wild The Blame (and Shame) Game If These Uterine Walls Could Talk Material World My Big Fat Unnecessary Wedding and Other Dating Diseases Real" Women Have Babies I Promise I Won't Say Herstory" Boys Do Cry Beauty Cult Sex and the City Voters, My Ass A Quick Academic Aside Get to ItSince its original publication, Full Frontal Feminism has reassured readers,yeah, you're feminists, and that's actually pretty cool.

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You know what? It's super creepy to kiss a woman who is unconscious. And you know what else? The way out of poverty isn't by marrying a rich dude--or by wearing fragile footwear, for that matter. And while we're at it, why is the only woman who lives with seven men expected to do the cooking, cleaning, and laundry?Fairytales need a reboot and comedy queens Laura Lane and Ellen Haun are the women to do it. In Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling, they offer a rollicking parody of classic (read: patriarchal) tales that turns sweet, submissive princesses into women who are perfectly capable of being the heroes of their own stories. Mulan climbs the ranks in the army but wages a different war when she finds out she's getting paid less than her fellow male captains, Wendy learns never to trust a manboy stalking her window, Sleeping Beauty's prince gets a lesson in consent, and more.Busting with laugh-out-loud, razor-sharp twists to these outdated tales, Cinderella and the Glass Ceilingis fun, magical, necessary and totally woke.

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Both sexy and smart, this anthology of intelligent erotica is written by and for literature lovers

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Words matter. They wound, they inflate, they define, they demean. They have nuance and power. "Effortless," "Sassy," "Ambitious," "Aggressive": What subtle digs and sneaky implications are conveyed when women are described with words like these? Words are made into weapons, warnings, praise and blame, bearing an outsize influence on women's lives-to say nothing of our moods.No one knows this better than Lizzie Skurnick, writer of the New York Times' column "That Should be A Word" and a veritable queen of cultural coinage. And in Pretty Bitches, Skurnick has rounded up a group of powerhouse women writers to take on the hidden meanings of these words and how they can limit our worlds - or liberate them. From Laura Lipmann and Meg Wolizer to Jennifer Weiner and Rebecca Traister, each writer uses her word as a vehicle for memoir, cultural commentary, critique, or all three. Spanning the street, the bedroom, the voting booth and the workplace, these simple words have huge stories behind them - stories it's time to examine, re-imagine and change.

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The Secret for a new generation, Imagination Transforms Everything helps readers to harness the transformative power of our imaginations. Using a voice-driven personal narrative, scientific research, and practical exercises, debut author Andrea Kasprzak introduces the concept of "intentionally imagining," which entails taking time to disconnect and daydream, using journaling to track those daydreams, and turning them into intentions to fulfill our goals. The author draws on her own experiences, the law of attraction theory, and intention research to give practical steps for stopping limiting self-talk, unfulfilling narratives, and the endless digital cycle sucking up our attention. Ultimately, "intentional imagining" promises to result in greater clarity about who we are and what we want, so that we can act in ways that align with that clarity.

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After filing a story for a journalism assignment only two days after giving birth, Amy Westervelt had a revelation: we treat mothers like crap in this country. From inadequate maternity leave to gender-based double standards, emotional labor to the wage gap, Westervelt became determined to understand how we got here--where "having it all" is the fabled, hollow, unreachable goal. In Forget "Having It All," Westervelt traces the roots of our modern problems back to the founding of our nation and through the changing roles of men and women since. What she discovers may be surprising: the roles of mothers have flip-flopped throughout our history (for example, leading up to the Industrial Revolution, many men were home while women worked). Using this historical backdrop, Westervelt draws out what we should replicate from our past (the origin of Mother's Day, for example, was a dedicated day for mothers to organize just as laborers had done--to take stock of their place in society and push for more), and what we must begin anew (such as incorporating working fathers into our discussions about work-life balance) as we overhaul American motherhood. Ultimately, Westervelt presents a measured, historically-backed call for workplace policies, cultural norms, and personal attitudes about motherhood that will radically improve the lives of not just working moms but everyone in our country.

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An empowerment manifesto for creatives, misfits, innovators, and disruptors from the star of So You Think You Can Dance and creator of Broadway's Finding NeverlandA Unicorn in a World of Donkeys offers a playbook for living a creative and authentic life. Using her own story as a launching spot, and creative quizzes, charts, and lists to engage the reader in an interactive journey, Mia Michaels explores the experience of the unicorn in a world of donkeys, a world where fitting in, pleasing others, following rules, and maintaining norms-no matter how messed up those norms are-is the only acceptable path. She acknowledges the struggles of the unicorn life-loneliness, ridicule, being misunderstood and undervalued-and goes on encourage readers to reframe the unicorn life the way she has, as essential to a life of brilliance.

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The greatest creators in human history--from Mozart to Meryl Streep, Jackson Pollock to Jay-Z--don't just have talent--they also understand their motivations for pursuing art. What's Your Creative Type? helps artists do the same in a fun and witty way. Stepping away from the hyper-focus on how people create, What's Your Creative Type? instead explores why. By identifying your creative motivation type, you'll be able to find renewed energy, overcome creative blocks, and release the artist within.Drawing from creativity theory and personality typology, each chapter of the book is devoted to a creative type, from the A-Lister seeking recognition to the Activist who wants to change the world. What's Your Creative Type? is peppered with pop-culture studies of famous artists and illustrates each type with entertaining examples from legendary figures.Whether you're a seasoned artist or writer in search of inspiration or simply looking to explore your budding creative talents and motivations, What's Your Creative Type? has fresh and reliable advice and insight for you.

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Parents will do just about anything to give their kids happy lives and successful futures. Unfortunately, the drive to give kids the best of everything leads to a financial strategy based in fear and competition, and results in millions of dollars worth of unnecessary purchases. Enough is enough.In Not Buying It, Brett Graff, the Home Economist," separates the truth about what parents need for their kids to succeed from the fiction perpetuated by ads, peer pressure, and internal fear. Graff shows how parents can save up to a million dollars by investing the money they would otherwise spend on overpriced and unnecessary purchases for their kids. Graff exposes the many ways that overspending can actually harm kids by encouraging narcissism and unhealthy habits. Her tips range from the everyday (understand when supposedly "organic" products aren't worth the extra dollars) to the long-term (consider investing in a smaller home for your family, which encourages intimacy and connection), making this a valuable manual for all stages of a parent's life.An essential book for new parents as well as parenting veterans, Not Buying It is the definitive guide for families who want to separate the truth about raising kids from the hype.

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Whether or not we like to admit it, pop culture is a lens through which we alternately view and shape the world around us. When it comes to feminism, pop culture aids us in translating feminist philosophies, issues, and concepts into everyday language, making them relevant and relatable. In Feminism and Pop Culture, author and cofounder of Bitch magazine Andi Zeisler traces the impact of feminism on pop culture (and vice versa) from the 1940s to the present and beyond. With a comprehensive overview of the intertwining relationship between women and pop culture, this book is an ideal introduction to discussing feminism and daily life.

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Are single women happy individualists? Neurotic man-hunters? Crazed cat ladies? Are they confused, or content? Bitter, or better off? No one seems to know. The popular media gives us shoe shopaholics, ditzy desperados, wannabe brides forever making cow eyes at The Bachelor. But what do single women have to say about their own lives?With sass, humour, and style, Single State of the Union paints a provocative, playful, and complex portrait of today's single woman, taking on such topics as:o sex and the single girlo single motherhoodo buying a house without a spouseo faux boyfriendso cohabitation hesitationo single women in the mediaWritten by an impressive roster of single (and some formerly single) women, this collection portrays single women as individuals whose lives extend well beyond Match.com and Manolo Blahniks. So listen up, Carrie. Attention, Bridget. It's time for the rest of us to be heard.

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In this ground-breaking anthology, Ariel Gore and Bee Lavender ask real moms , from Web site designers to tattoo-clad waitresses , to laugh, cry, scream, and shout about motherhood. Allison Crews fights to have a voice and be recognized as a teen mother. Angela Morrill eschews both doctors and midwife and gives birth at home. Kimberly Bright draws compelling comparisons between raising a toddler and having a psychotic boyfriend." For every young mom, Breeder offers inspiration, strength, wisdom, and humour. Contributors include Allison Crews, Beth Lucht, Ayun Halliday, Katie Granju, Peri Escarda, Allison Abner, and Kimberly Bright.

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In the last decade, studies have reported a drastic rise in teens who experience anxiety, panic, and an inability to cope with the pressures of daily life. As mental health challenges become less stigmatized, young people are more likely than ever before to know how to identify their feelings and ask for help. Even celebrity teen icons like Selena Gomez are "coming out" as anxiety sufferers.Zen Teen addresses this epidemic with powerful coping mechanisms and creative tools-including two fun quizzes, tons of engaging exercises and a cool playlist-designed for the teenage mind. With topics like "The Unique Genius of You" and "Rock-Star Rituals," Tanya Carroll Richardson prompts teens to get calm by engaging in mindful tasks, like identifying gurus, tapping into warrior energy, mastering meditation, practicing realistic optimism, becoming a self-awareness samurai, learning to surrender, discovering personal dharma, finding a spirit animal, expressing challenging emotions, living loving-kindness, protecting the planet, and making vision boards that embrace "the Tao of Cool."Smart and fresh, Zen Teen helps teens thrive while navigating and managing the pressures of everyday life.

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For many of us, a good, heart-pounding mystery is the perfect escape from real-world confusion and chaos. But what about the writers who create those stories of suspense and intrigue? How do our favorite novelists cope with our perplexing world, and what mysteries keep them up at night? In Private Investigations, twenty fan-favorite mystery writers share their first-person stories of grappling with mysteries they've personally encountered, at home and in the world. Caroline Leavitt regales us with a medical mystery, a time when she lost her voice and doctors couldn't find a cure; Martin Limon travels back to his military stint in Korea to grapple with the chaos of war; Anne Perry ponders the magical powers of stories conjured from writers' imaginations, and more.Exploring all the tropes of the genre--from haunted houses to elusive perpetrators, from respecting the legacy of victims of violence to regrouping after missed signals have derailed their lives--these writers' true tales show just how much art imitates life, and how, ultimately, we are all private investigators in the our own real-life dramas.

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As our newsfeeds become more and more glutted by stories of harassment and assault, it's no surprise women are turning to every power in their arsenal to fight back--even the magical ones. As Lindy West put it in her New York Times op-ed, "Yes, this is a witch hunt. I'm a witch, and I'm hunting you."Hexing the Patriarchy: Magical Resistance from A to Z is a book for women for women who want to join the resistance. Upbeat and inviting, without making light of anyone's oppression or spirituality, it offers fed-up women a primer of enchantment in the form of 26 spells for undermining modern-day oppression, all gathered from authentic witches from various magical traditions. Readers will learn how to . . . make salt scrubs to "wash away patriarchal bullshit" place spells on misogynist leadershipmix potions to boost their strength against harassment . . . and more. Individually and cumulatively, the spells are designed to topple the patriarchy with a dangerous, they-never-saw-it-coming power.

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While many feminist and queer movements are designed to challenge sexism, they often simultaneously police gender and sexuality,sometimes just as fiercely as the straight, male-centric mainstream does. Among LGBTQ activists, there is a long history of lesbians and gay men dismissing bisexuals, transgender people, and other gender and sexual minorities. In each case, exclusion is based on the premise that certain ways of being gendered or sexual are more legitimate, natural, or righteous than others.As a trans woman, bisexual, and femme activist, Julia Serano has spent much of the last ten years challenging various forms of exclusion within feminist and queer/LGBTQ movements. In Excluded, she chronicles many of these instances of exclusion and argues that marginalizing others often stems from a handful of assumptions that are routinely made about gender and sexuality. These false assumptions infect theories, activism, organizations, and communities,and worse, they enable people to vigorously protest certain forms of sexism while simultaneously ignoring and even perpetuating others. Serano advocates for a new approach to fighting sexism that avoids these pitfalls and offers new ways of thinking about gender, sexuality, and sexism that foster inclusivity rather than exclusivity.

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After surviving nearly a decade of heroin abuse and hard living on the streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin District, Tracey Helton Mitchell decided to get clean for good.With raw honesty and a poignant perspective on life that only comes from starting at rock bottom, Tracey tells her story of transformation from homeless heroin addict to stable mother of three-and the hard work and hard lessons that got her there. Rather than dwelling on the pain of addiction, The Big Fix focuses on her journey of recovery and rebuilding her life, while exposing the failings of the American rehab system and laying out a path for change. Starting with the first step in her recovery, Tracey re-learns how to interact with men, build new friendships, handle money, and rekindle her relationship with her mother, all while staying sober, sharp, and dedicated to her future.A decidedly female story of addiction, The Big Fix describes the unique challenges faced by women caught in the grip of substance abuse, such as the toxic connection between drug addition and prostitution. Tracey's story of hope, hard work, and rehabilitation will inspire anyone who has been affected by substance abuse while offering hope for a better future.

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A ground-breaking exploration of the ways Americans are reinventing success and redefining "better off," through lives that reject traditional status symbols in lieu of fulfillment and value relationships over money

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Advice and inspiration for women of colour seeking new heights of influence, from the top Latinx advisor to President Obama Women of colour are becoming more visible and more powerful than ever, achieving higher levels of success and blazing new paths for future generations. These women are pioneers, finding their own way in otherwise white-dominated arenas. As the first Latinx to direct national domestic policy issues, Cecilia Munoz knows the difficulties of getting ahead without exemplars to follow. In More than Ready, she offers readers lessons from the challenges she faced and the victories she achieved in the White House, with wise advice like.Keep your elbows sharp: Hold your ground when others seek to devalue your contribution.Defend kindness: Elevate empathy in the workplace and beyond.Leverage failure: Turn losses into gains by embracing the benefits of the experience.Full of invaluable insights about working through fear, overcoming injustices, and facing down detractors, More than Ready provides the tactical tools women of colour need to reach unprecedented levels of power and success -- without compromising who they are.

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In March 2017, Nevada surprised the rest of the country by suddenly ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, thirty-five years after the deadline had passed. The ERA is now just two states short of total ratification. Two states and a legacy of shame are standing between American women and full equality.She the People takes on the campaign for change by offering a sweeping, highly illustrated, sometimes sarcastic look at women's rights and citizenship. Journalist, historian, and activist Jen Deaderick takes readers on a walk down the ERA's rocky road to become part of our Constitution. Divided into 12 historical periods between 1776 and today, each era highlights specific changes in the legal status of women along with the significant cultural and social influences of the time, so women's history is understood as an integral part of U.S. history, rather than a tangential sideline.Clever and dynamic, She the People is informative, entertaining, and a vital reminder that women still aren't fully accepted as equal citizens in America.

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Larry Nassar has been called one of the worst sexual predators in history. For years, the families in Lansing, Michigan admired and trusted him. He was a longtime doctor at Michigan State University, while also serving as the physician for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team. Parents left their daughters in his care, grateful for the attention of this renowned doctor. He became a mentor and confidante to aspiring young gymnasts with big dreams.In the wake of abuse revelations, athletes are asking why they weren't protected. Victims want to know why they weren't believed. Parents are questioning why authorities didn't stop him when they had the chance. How did this happen? And how can we prevent it from occurring again? Drawing on exclusive interviews, this book unveils the behind-the-scenes story on the scandal that riveted and devastated the world of elite sports--and the small community where it all began. This is the narrative of how these women found their voice and came together, refusing to let the abuse of their past define their future. Their experience carries an important message for readers amid the ever-growing #MeToo movement: There is power in your voice.

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As women, many of us are stuck in feedback loops about how to be successful and happy: striving to "have it all" at work and at home, letting ourselves be pressured into giving every part of our lives 100% until we're completely burnt-out, imagining only a strictly linear life path (college, job, marriage, kids), and accepting limitations without question. Yet the truth is, this book argues, most of the conventional wisdom about driving our life choices is total baloney. In Everything Is Negotiable, Meg Myers Morgan deconstructs preconceived notions about adulthood, parenthood, and career paths that have us limiting ourselves. Instead of following that linear plan, for example, she urges readers to take action now for what we want--limitations be damned. With wit and verve, Morgan also tells us to forget trying to "have it all," as the cliche phrase goes--it'll never happen. And, Morgan argues, don't bother trying to give 100%--we simply can't give anything 100% attention, ever! Instead, this book teaches us to navigate life's necessary trade-offs free of the baggage of our own expectations. Chock full of strategies for where and when to give our limited energy, what to demand from our careers, and how to make better choices, Everything Is Negotiable is for women ready to seize the lives they really want.

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Women have long been taught that their bodies are unruly, weak. We're taught to approach our bodies by shrinking, whittling-and, aided by the traditional beauty industry, constantly "fixing" ourselves. With a fresh voice in troubled times, Physical Disobedience says "stop it"-because mistreating our bodies that way is nothing less than an act of submission to gendered inequality. We need to focus on health, fitness, and strength-as we ourselves define it. Hays Coomer knows that when we strengthen ourselves, we're making our activism personal, by reclaiming our right to a healthy self-image and bodies that function to the best of their ability. And, yes, at the same time we're building stamina for the literal work of activism-the marches and the protests, plus the everyday emotional resilience it takes to face the news. Hays Coomer shows us, step by step, how to reframe our idea of "fitness," reclaiming it and instead associating being fit with being powerful. And as women, now more than ever, we could use that collective fitness and reclaimed power.

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The protagonist and anti-heroine of Louise Fitzhugh's masterpiece Harriet the Spy, first published first in 1964, continues to mesmerize generation after generation of readers. Harriet is an erratic, unsentimental, and endearing prototype--someone very like the woman who dreamed her up, author and artist Louise Fitzhugh.Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was raised in a wealthy home in segregated Memphis, and she escaped her cloistered world and made a beeline for New York as soon as she could. Her expanded milieu stretched from the lesbian bars of Greenwich Village to the dance clubs of Harlem, on to the resurgent artist studios of post-war New York, France, and Italy. Her circle of friends included artists like Maurice Sendak and playwrights like Lorraine Hansberry.In the 1960s, Fitzhugh wrote Harriet the Spy, and in doing so she introduced "new realism" into children's books-she launched a genre of children's books that allowed characters to experience authentic feelings and acknowledged topics that were formerly considered taboo. Fitzhugh's books are full of resistance: to liars, to conformity, to authority, and even (radically, for a children's author) to make-believe. As a commercial children's author and lesbian, Fitzhugh often had to disguise the nature of her most intimate relationships. She lived her life as a dissenter--a friend to underdogs, outsiders, and artists--and her masterpiece remains long after her death to influence and provoke new generations of readers.Harriet is massively influential among girls and women in contemporary culture; she is the missing link between Jo March and Scout Finch, and it's not surprising that writers have thought of her as a kind of patron saint for misfit writers and unfeminine girls. This lively, rich biography brings Harriet's creator into the frame, shedding new light on an extraordinary author and her marvelous creation.

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This is the Place is a collection of essays exploring home, from a diverse collection of writers. Home is a loaded word, and a complex idea for most of us: it's a place that can be safe, sentimental, difficult, nourishing, war-torn, or long-lost. It's a place to escape and a place to create. I believe that The essays cover topics like the bonds we form with our stuff, the smells and sounds we crave, the people and plants we cultivate, the qualities that develop because we hail from one place or another. Home and family topics that are toothsome, they are hot and present in our rapidly shifting world of self-definition; Wherever I'm With You touches on the many ways that home impacts the rest of our lives, with so many angles for reader interest and media coverage.

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An urgent proclamation of what life is like for American women without the security of a financial safety netIndie icon Michelle Tea--whose memoir The Chelsea Whistle details her own working-class roots in gritty Chelsea, Massachusetts--shares these fierce, honest, tender essays written by women who can't go home to the suburbs when ends don't meet. When jobs are scarce and the money has dwindled, these writers have nowhere to go but below the poverty line. The writers offer their different stories not for sympathy or sadness, but an unvarnished portrait of how it was, is, and will be for generations of women growing up working class in America. These wide-ranging essays cover everything from selling blood for grocery money to the culture shock of "jumping" class. Contributors include Dorothy Allison, Bee Lavender, Eileen Myles, and Daisy Hernández.

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By the author of Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls and a heroine of the body positivity movement, an intimate, gutsy memoir about being a fat womanJes Baker burst onto the body positivity scene when she created her own ads mocking Abercrombie & Fitch for discriminating against all body types--a move that landed her on the Today Show and garnered a loyal following for her raw, honest, and attitude-filled blog missives. Building on the manifesta power of Things, this memoir goes deeply into Jes's inner life, from growing up a fat girl to dating while fat. With material that will have readers laughing and crying along with Jes's experience, this new book is a natural fit with her irreverent, open-book style. A deeply personal take, Landwhale is a glimpse at life as a fat woman today, but it's also a reflection of the unforgiving ways our culture still treats fatness, all with Jes's biting voice as the guide.

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Kara Richardson Whitely thought she could do anything. After all, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro-three times! But now she's off the mountain and back home again, and there's one thing she just can't manage to do-lose weight. In many ways, Kara is living the life of everywoman, except that she's not everywoman because she weighs 300 pounds. Her weight is a constant source of conflict and shame, as the people from every corner of her life-from her daughter's pediatrician to her mother in law-judge Kara for the size of her body.In The Weight of Being, Kara shares the most intimate aspects of life as she experiences it as a fat woman, looking deep into the ways her body influences her marriage, her sex life, her children, her career, and her friendships. The stories she tells hit all kinds of nerves. Some are shocking, like the time she was shot with a BB gun by a neighbor's son who used her backside for target practice. Others are heartbreaking-when her pediatrician suggests that her daughter's weight isn't healthy, the mortification Kara feels is viscerally painful.Kara's story is one of living as a fat woman in America, where fat prejudice is rampant, despite our nation's pandemic of obesity. In this fresh, raw memoir, Kara reveals this epic contradiction, reminding us all that fat lives are deserving of esteem, dignity, and respect.

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How many times have you heard readers argue about which is better, Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights? The works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne continue to provoke passionate fandom over a century after their deaths. Brontë enthusiasts, as well as those of us who never made it further than those oft-cited classics, will devour Miranda Pennington's delightful literary memoir.Pennington, today a writer and teacher in New York, was a precocious reader. Her father gave her Jane Eyre at the age of 10, sparking what would become a lifelong devotion and multiple re-readings. She began to delve into the work and lives of the Brontës, finding that the sisters were at times her lifeline, her sounding board, even her closest friends. In this charming, offbeat memoir, Pennington traces the development of the Brontës as women, as sisters, and as writers, as she recounts her own struggles to fit in as a bookish, introverted, bisexual woman. In the Brontës and their characters, Pennington finally finds the heroines she needs, and she becomes obsessed with their wisdom, courage, and fearlessness. Her obsession makes for an entirely absorbing and unique read. A Girl Walks Into a Book is a candid and emotional love affair that braids criticism, biography and literature into a quest that helps us understand the place of literature in our lives; how it affects and inspires us.

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Looking to smash the patriarchy and get your arts and crafts on?Want to have a laugh while taking down sexist stereotypes?Look no further than Gemma Correll's Feminist Activity Book , where your dress up doll can wear whatever she wants and the only thing limiting your sexuality is the size of your coloured pencil collection. Welcome to the games, colouring projects, and crafts of your egalitarian dreams! The Feminist Activity Book has everything you need to usher in an era of colourful and intersectional joy. Featuring such activities as Feminist All-Star Trading Cards, Destroy the Page-Triarchy, Sexist Social Media Bingo, and A Feminist ABC, The Feminist Activity Book will fuel your feminist rage, remind you to laugh once in awhile, and bring you one step closer to an egalitarian utopia, or whatever.

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Superheroes don't start from glorious beginnings. Their origins are almost always marked by traumatic events that leave them helpless and scared. Batman witnessed his parents' murder. Superman was sent away from his dying planet with no one to guide him as he grew up. Orphaned Catwoman was forced to steal food to survive on the streets of Gotham.What makes these superheroes super is their determination to not be defined by helplessness. They embrace their origins, their flaws, and their mistakes, and strive every day to become the best versions of themselves - for the benefit of themselves and others. Super You is a fun, friendly, and unabashedly geeky guide to becoming the superhero of your own extraordinary life. Author Emily Gordon examines comic book tropes to find lessons that anyone can apply toward overcoming tragic events and adversity in their own lives. With activities in every chapter to help identify each person's superpowers, special tools, personal kryptonite - and weapons against it - Super You is the perfect sidekick for every growing hero, empowering everyday people to transform into the most kick-ass versions of themselves.

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