Jane Sexes It Up

Jane Sexes It Up
Author: Merri Lisa Johnson
Publisher: Seal Press
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2002-04-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781568581804

Exploring a wide range of sexual subjects from pornography to prostitution, 20 young, progressive feminists reflect on the limitations they think are imposed by establishment feminism on their bodies and their behavior.

Not My Mother's Sister

Not My Mother's Sister
Author: Astrid Henry
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2004-09-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780253111227

"No matter how wise a mother's advice is, we listen to our peers." At least that's writer Naomi Wolf's take on the differences between her generation of feminists -- the third wave -- and the feminists who came before her and developed in the late '60s and '70s -- the second wave. In Not My Mother's Sister, Astrid Henry agrees with Wolf that this has been the case with American feminism, but says there are problems inherent in drawing generational lines. Henry begins by examining texts written by women in the second wave, and illustrates how that generation identified with, yet also disassociated itself from, its feminist "foremothers." Younger feminists now claim the movement as their own by distancing themselves from the past. By focusing on feminism's debates about sexuality, they are able to reject the so-called victim feminism of Catherine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin. Rejecting the orthodoxies of the second wave, younger feminists celebrate a woman's right to pleasure. Henry asserts, however, that by ignoring diverse older voices, the new generation has oversimplified generational conflict and has underestimated the contributions of earlier feminists to women's rights. They have focused on issues relating to personal identity at the expense of collective political action. Just as writers like Wolf, Katie Roiphe, and Rene Denfeld celebrate a "new" feminist (hetero)sexuality posited in generational terms, queer and lesbian feminists of the third wave similarly distance themselves from those who came before. Henry shows how 1970s lesbian feminism is represented in ways that are remarkably similar to the puritanical portrait of feminism offered by straight third-wavers. She concludes by examining the central role played by feminists of color in the development of third-wave feminism. Indeed, the term "third wave" itself was coined by Rebecca Walker, daughter of Alice Walker. Not My Mother's Sister is an important contribution to the exchange of ideas among feminists of all ages and persuasions.

Girl in Need of a Tourniquet

Girl in Need of a Tourniquet
Author: Merri Lisa Johnson
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2010-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1458783677

An honest and compelling memoir, Girl in Need of a Tourniquetis Merri Lisa Johnsons account of her borderline personality disorder and how it has affected her life and relationships. Johnson describes the feeling of ''bleeding out'' - unable to tell where she stopped and where her partner began. A self-confessed ''psycho girlfriend,'' she was influenced by many emotional factors from her past. She recalls her path through a dysfunctional, destructive relationship, while recounting the experiences that brought her to her breaking point. In recognizing her struggle with borderline personality disorder, Johnson is ultimately able to seek help, embarking on a soul-searching healing process. It's a path that is painful, difficult, and at times heart-wrenching, but ultimately makes her more able to love and coexist in healthy relationships.

Erotic Memoirs and Postfeminism

Erotic Memoirs and Postfeminism
Author: J. Gwynne
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2013-01-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1137326549

This book analyses the impact of postfeminist discourse and the mainstreaming of pornography on our understanding of intimacy and female sexuality. It is a broad critical survey of a recent publishing phenomenon – the female-authored erotic memoir – and positions the texts under analysis as complex and contradictory expressions of popular feminism.

Sisterhood, Interrupted

Sisterhood, Interrupted
Author: Deborah Siegel
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2007-05-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781403973184

Contrary to clichés about the end of feminism, Deborah Siegel argues that younger women are reliving the battles of its past, and reinventing it--with a vengeance. From feminist blogging to the popularity of the WNBA, girl culture is on the rise. A lively and compelling look back at the framing of one of the most contentious social movements of our time, Sisterhood, Interrupted exposes the key issues still at stake, outlining how a twenty-first century feminist can reconcile the personal with the political and combat long-standing inequalities that continue today.

The Weatherwomen

The Weatherwomen
Author: Mona Rocha
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2020-02-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1476638802

Assertive, tough, and idealistic, the Weatherwomen--members of the Weather Underground Organization (WUO) from the late 1960s--were determined to stamp out sexism and social injustice. They asserted that militancy was necessary in the pursuit of a socialist revolution that would produce gender, racial, and class equality. This book excavates their long buried history and reclaims the voices of the Weatherwomen. The Weatherwomen's militant feminism had many facets. It criticized the role of women in the home, was concerned with the subordination of women to men, attacked the gender pay gap, and supported female bodily integrity. The Weatherwomen also refined their own feminist ideology into an intersectional one that would incorporate multiple identity perspectives beyond the white, American, middle-class perspective. In shaping a feminist vision for the WUO, the Weatherwomen dealt with sexism within their own organization and were dismissed by some feminist groups of the time as inauthentic. This work strives to recognize the WUO's militant feminist efforts, and the agency, autonomy, and empowerment of its female members, by concentrating on their actions and writings.

Rethinking Women's and Gender Studies

Rethinking Women's and Gender Studies
Author: Catherine M. Orr
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2012-03-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136482563

Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies re-examines the field’s foundational assumptions by identifying and critically analyzing eighteen of its key terms. Each essay investigates a single term (e.g., feminism, interdisciplinarity, intersectionality) by asking how it has come to be understood and mobilized in Women’s and Gender Studies and then explicates the roles it plays in both producing and shutting down possible versions of the field. The goal of the book is to trace and expose critical paradoxes, ironies, and contradictions embedded in the language of Women’s and Gender Studies—from its high theory to its casual conversations—that relies on these key terms. Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies offers a fresh approach to structuring Feminist Theory, Senior Capstone, and introductory graduate-level courses in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Virginity Lost

Virginity Lost
Author: Laura Carpenter
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2005-11-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0814772005

An intimate analysis of the first time Nervous, inexperienced, confused. For most, losing your virginity is one of life's most significant moments, always to be remembered. Of course, experiences vary, but Laura Carpenter asks: Is there an ideal way to lose it? What would constitute a “positive” experience? What often compels the big step? And, further, what does “going all the way” really mean for young gays and lesbians? In this first comprehensive study of virginity loss, Carpenter teases out the complexities of all things virgin by drawing on interviews with both young men and women who are straight, gay or bisexual. Virginity Lost offers a rare window into one of life's most intimate and significant sexual moments. The stories here are frank, poignant and fascinating as Carpenter presents an array of experiences that run the gamut from triumphant to devastating. Importantly, Carpenter argues that one's experience of virginity loss can have a powerful impact on one's later sexual experiences. Especially at a time of increased debate about sexual abstinence versus safe sex education in public schools, this important volume will provide essential information about the sex lives of young people.