Feminist Collections a Quarterly of Women’S Studies Resources

GENDER & WOMEN’S STUDIES LIBRARIAN

FEMINIST COLLECTIONS A QUARTERLY OF WOMEN’S STUDIES RESOURCES

Volume 35 Numbers 1–2 Winter–Spring 2014

University of Wisconsin System Feminist Collections

A Quarterly of Women’s Studies Resources

Gender & Women’s Studies Librarian University of Wisconsin System 430 Memorial Library 728 State St. Madison, WI 53706

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Editors: Karla J. Strand, JoAnne Lehman

Drawings: Cover & pp. 21, 30: Miriam Greenwald

Photo, p. ii: JoAnne Lehman

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Volume 35, Numbers 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014

CONTENTS

From the Editors ii

Book Reviews Cold, Sparkly, and Dangerous to Know: The Vampire Boyfriends of True Blood & Twilight 1 by Pamela O’Donnell French Women Directing Film: Pallister and Hottell’s Filmographies 6 by Diana King

Special Section: Reproductive Justice Surveilling the Body: Reproductive Technologies and the Pregnant Body 11 by Liz Barr Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC): A Reproductive Justice Concern? 15 by Kristin Ryder

Professional Reading Teaching Women’s & Gender Studies 19 by Glenda Jones Creators, Guardians, and Consumers — Using Archives 22 by Jeanne Miller

E-Sources on Women & Gender 24

New Reference Works in Gender &Women’s Studies 26

Periodical Notes 29

Items of Note 31

Books & Videos Recently Received 32 From the Editors

What’s here? This issue of Zakiya Luna is also affiliated We recently had to say goodbye FC looks at resources on many and with BerkeleyLaw’s Center on to editor Linda Fain (pictured below) disparate topics — including, for Reproductive Rights and Justice when she retired and returned to her example, vampire fiction, French (CRRJ), which has a web presence beloved Bay Area in California. For filmographies, Canadian archives, at http://www.law.berkeley.edu/ more than a decade, Linda edited and and the teaching of women’s studies. reprojustice.htm. Check it out, indexed New Books on Women, Gender, In the middle of all that, we have a especially CRRJ’s searchable Virtual & Feminism and oversaw the expansion special themed section on reproductive Library, which “includes resources that of our WAVE (Women’s AudioVisuals in justice, a term that, as reviewer Kristin have helped to define and refine the English) database. We’re now beginning Ryder explains on page 15, originated reproductive justice framework, as well the search process for a new half-time with Loretta Ross and other women-of- as those that illustrate RJ in action.” editor for that position. color activists in the early 1990s. Ryder We’re also busy planning future is careful to point out that reproductive #Ferguson is a reproductive issues of FC. Are you a subscriber yet? justice is about far more than abortion justice issue. The killing of an JoAnne Lehman, Senior Editor rights or access to birth control; it unarmed Black teenager by police August 2014 “encompasses both reproductive health in Missouri just a few weeks ago has and reproductive rights concerns, yet strong feminist and reproductive envelops them in a social justice and justice relevance, as some of the best human rights framework.” Don’t miss online commentary is pointing out. Ryder’s essay review, “Long-Acting Follow what’s being written at Crunk Reversible Contraception (LARC): A Feminist Collective and at Colorlines Reproductive Justice Concern?,” and (e.g., “Black Feminists Respond to the one by Liz Barr that precedes it, Ferguson,” by Miriam Zoila Pérez); and “Surveilling the Body: Reproductive see Dani McClain’s “The Murder of Technologies and the Pregnant Body.” Black Youth Is a Reproductive Justice Issue” on August 13th in The Nation — Other resources on reproductive just for starters. justice: When we were first developing this reproductive justice mini-theme, we were put in touch with scholar Here at the University of Zakiya T. Luna, now an assistant Wisconsin’s Gender & Women’s professor of sociology at the University Studies Librarian’s office…We’re of California, Santa Barbara, who busy (oh, let’s not say overwhelmed!), has also been a post-doctoral fellow but eager to greet the new academic at UC Berkeley since 2012 and was year and its students, participate in previously a post-doc here at the some great upcoming conferences University of Wisconsin–Madison. (including NWSA’s in San Juan, Best wishes to retired editor Linda Fain! While at Berkeley, Luna was lead Puerto Rico, in November!), and get author of a comprehensive essay for to the other side of the much-needed the Annual Review of Law and Social renovation of our working space in Science (vol. 9, pp. 327–352; 2013) Memorial Library. about the history and aims of the reproductive justice movement; highly recommended reading! Watch also for the publication of Luna’s book manuscript, Reproductive Justice for All: Identity, Rights, and the (Re)Making of a Movement.

Page ii Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Book Reviews Cold, Sparkly, and Dangerous to Know: The Vampire Boyfriends of True Blood & Twilight by Pamela O’Donnell

Brigid Cherry, TRUE BLOOD: INVESTIGATING VAMPIRES AND SOUTHERN GOTHIC. London: I.B.Tauris, 2012. (Investigating Cult TV Series.) 288p. index. pap., $18.00, ISBN 978-1848859401.

Maggie Parke & Natalie Wilson, THEORIZING TWILIGHT: CRITICAL ESSAYS ON WHAT’S AT STAKE IN A POST-VAMPIRE WORLD. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2010. (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy Series.) 253p. pap., $29.95, ISBN 978-0786449989.

So, why the undead? At first in bringing to the fore insights on extended description of True Blood’s glance it would seem that feminists how the fantastic and paranormal can title sequence. and vampires have little in common. illuminate often-hidden undercurrents What some might see as the signifiers in contemporary society, letting us The first section of the book of feminism, at least of the Second “see” our prejudices, our motivations, covers genre and style, opening with Wave sort — earnestness, herbal tea, ourselves. an essay by Stacey Abbott that decodes and Birkenstocks — could never be HBO’s use of the vampire to maintain confused with those of the vampire — Edited by Brigid Cherry, a senior its reputation for extra-ordinary televi- amorality, blood, and black leather. As lecturer in film and popular culture at sion. Along the way, Abbott reveals, good critical theorists, however, we are St. Mary’s University, London, True “Vampires become sympathetic in True taught to challenge false binaries, wher- Blood: Investigating Vampires and South- Blood, not because they are struggling ever they occur. In this instance we can ern Gothic brings together twelve essays against their condition and resisting recognize that feminists and vampires on the HBO series, which is produced the thirst…but because they are vic- have more in common than originally by Alan Ball and based on the Southern tims of prejudice” (p. 34). The explora- assumed. (An aversion to suntans, for Vampire Mysteries of Charlaine Har- tion of genre continues with a chapter example, or the uncomfortable role of ris. As contributor Mikel Koven notes, by Caroline Ruddell and editor Cherry outsider in a patriarchal, capitalistic “What makes True Blood more interest- on the Southern Gothic milieu of True society.) As Margot Adler noted in her ing than any of the other vampire- Blood — with its heated climate and recently published Vampires Are Us, an oriented television series in recent years even more heated relationships (p. 41). exploration of our “love affair with the (beyond the sex and gore in the show) American readers will, on occasion, immortal dark side,” vampires have is what the series appears to say about be forced to translate the accurate but a lot to say about “issues of power, racial and sexual integration. It is not a anomalous vocabulary employed by sensuality, identity, spirituality, and the hard stretch to read the television series the British authors. For example, in the environment” (preface). as Southern-born Ball’s fantasy South sentence, “Jason is bare-chested under For the authors and editors of where racial and sexual differences are his fluorescent road crew waistcoat,” these two books, fantastical creatures displaced onto the living-impaired the reader has to step out of the text also serve as a window into the psyche community” (pp. 64–65). long enough to convert that mental of people in the twenty-first century Cherry provides a context for this image into a “safety vest” (p. 42). — their hopes, desires, anxieties, and investigation of the first four seasons The second section of the book, fears. What better way to explore how of the series in the book’s introduction, covering myths and meanings, features one defines humanity than by com- offering background information on essays by Mikel Koven, who traces paring and contrasting it with the in/ the channel, the show, the actors, and the folklore and fairytale tropes of the unhuman? These texts play a vital role both Ball and Harris, in addition to an series and proposes that “vampires

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 1 Book Reviews

are, in their genetic make-up, big evil performing a ‘bisexual, sexually exotic, U. Melissa Anyiwo should be com- fairies” (p. 67); Gregory Erickson, who polymorphic and polysemous’… mended for her exceptionally clear writes on the absence of the divine, threat that is no longer exclusive to the prose and useful summation of Henry postulating that “[i]nstead of pre- homosexual subject” (p. 142, citation Jenkins’ theory of convergence in her senting religious themes through the omitted). However, the privileging of study of True Blood’s transmedia sto- Church or Christian belief, True Blood committed, white, male, gay, upper- rytelling. Maria Mellins continues the offers acts of sacramentalism, of ritual class couples in the queer hierarchy of exploration of the fan experience and and of transcendence identity by interviewing club- through sex, violence, goers at London’s Fangtasia, desire and drugs” a “tactile, real-world tribute (p. 75); and Dennis to the True Blood universe” Rothermel, who uses (p. 177). The publication the conceptual tools concludes with Erin Hollis’s of Deleuze, Guattari, chapter on “archontic” fan Nancy, Rancière, and fiction. Drawing on the work Badiou to entomb his of Abigail Derecho, Hollis analysis of “minoritar- investigates the differences be- ian romantic fables” in tween the television series and French theory (p. 90). its source material, Harris’s novels, revealing how these Characters and “dual canons” open up a lim- identities are the focus inal space within which fans of the third section, can create their own reality. which opens with Although none of the authors Ananya Mukherjea’s in this volume incorporate a take on the paranor- strictly feminist reading of the mal, yet Byronic, men text(s), the essays do provide of the show. Victo- illuminating analyses of issues ria Amador tries to of identity (race, class, and untangle depictions of gender) and practice. race and class in the In addition to season series in an essay that synopses of the series and an is more description episode guide through Season than analysis. This 4, the volume includes an section closes with a index. It is a worthy addition compelling chapter by to any collection supporting Darren Elliot-Smith scholars who are interested on the homosexual in what depictions of the vampire as metaphor paranormal reveal about for the…homosexual twenty-first-century Ameri- vampire (p. 139). can culture. Although challenging to condense, Elliot- In Theorizing Twilight, Smith’s basic argument the vampires under discus- is “that in representing an assimilative True Blood underscores the fact that the sion are not the only hybrids. In the homonormativity the show ceases supernatural community of Bon Temps introduction, editors Maggie Parke and to offer the same essentialist threat remains “deeply divided along lines of Natalie Wilson reveal that they “aimed to heteronormativity that the meta- diversity” (p. 152). for a middle-ground between dense phorical vampire-as-homosexual might The final three essays in the book academese and frivolity” in the hope once have done. Rather True Blood is are devoted to marketing and fandom. that the resulting essays “are enter-

Page 2 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Book Reviews

taining but enlightening, thought- provoking but user-friendly” (p. 2). Overlooking the fact that language has devolved to the point where the phrase “user-friendly” can be applied to a book, most of the fifteen essays in Theorizing Twilight successfully straddle both worlds. Fans, critics, and scholars of Stephenie Meyer’s work will all find something useful and engaging in these pages, although the fans may be disenchanted by the feminist critique of their favorite vampire clan. What cannot be denied is that the editors force fans and scholars alike to consider these cultural artifacts in a more nu- anced and complicated way.

Part I of the book, “Twilight as Pop Cultural Artifact: Pilgrimages, Fan Culture, and Film Adaptations,” opens with an engaging essay by Tanya Erzen, an associate professor at Ohio State, who takes a field trip (a rare enough occurrence for media scholars) to Forks, Washington, the purported home of the Cullen family in the Twilight books and films. She describes how “Twilight tourism defies neat boundaries between fantasy and franchise, the supernatural and everyday,” while underscoring the “ongoing negotiation of authenticity and experience” that occurs between fans and residents (pp. 21, 12). Erzen Twilight, noting the “lush exploration” balance against criticisms of the gen- has produced a fascinating study of the of sexual longing in the novel, what dered and heteronormative constructs intersections of teen ardor and capital- Christine Seifert of Bitch magazine in the Twilight franchise (criticisms we ism, of racial disparity and the illusion refers to as “abstinence porn” (p. 47). will find aplenty in later portions of the of authenticity. Anastasiu analyzes the author, the text, book). and the reader (both adolescent and The first section continues with adult) before concluding, rather sim- And speaking of heteronor- an essay by co-editor Maggie Parke, plistically, that the “text dramatically mativity, Colette Murphy’s quirky who dissects the vital role played by reflects humankind’s most basic drives chapter on our “lovesick infatuation fans in creating the Twilight phenom- and the need to negotiate between id with prince-like vampires” explores ena and argues that Hollywood studios desires and super-ego responsibilities” how media has simply re-costumed must cater to fan expectations if their while allowing for “vicarious participa- the vampire as the “heterosexual male films are to achieve blockbuster status. tion in the hero’s journey of self-ac- romantic lead” (pp. 56, 57). While Heather Anastasiu offers a psycho- tualization” (p. 53). She defends her Edward remains a “prince,” Murphy analytic inquiry into the popularity of interpretation as providing a necessary posits that Edward’s love, Bella, serves

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 3 Book Reviews as the true hero of the tale, the charac- before concluding with a description 132). While admitting the existence of ter who transitions from mere damsel of the attendees and programming at “Byronic impulses,” Groper delineates to powerful vampire, albeit a vampire TwiCon, the 2009 convention devoted the numerous ways in which Edward wife and mother. Ananya Mukherjea, to all things Twilight. rejects this mantle; he is unselfish, who contributed to the Brigid Cherry Angela Tenga, an assistant profes- chaste, moral, law-abiding, and inte- collection reviewed above, makes an- sor at the Florida Institute of Technol- grated into society. She concludes that other appearance here, with a chapter ogy, also places Twilight in a bookish “Meyer takes the Byronic hero arche- entitled “Team Bella: Fans Navigat- context, but in this case she argues type and instead of warning her readers ing Desire, Security, and Feminism.” that the nineteenth-century novels and away from him, she reforms him into Beginning with her own reading of the fairy tales admired by Stephenie Meyer someone safe and dependable” (pp. Twilight phenomena and “its conserva- “inform not just the imaginary space 144–145). tive and anti-feminist underpinnings,” of the Twilight novels, but the very she then surveys twenty fans of the imagination of their protagonist” and Hila Shachar, investigating novels, fourteen of whom identified as that, as a result, Bella’s “autonomous Twilight as a post-feminist romance, feminist, to try and better understand vision of self is limited by women’s believes the novels “ultimately partici- the appeal of Meyer’s work (pp. 70, roles in these fictions” (pp. 102, 103). pate in a post-feminist backlash that 74). In the course of her investigation, She goes on to apply psychoanalytic recycles traditional notions of love, Mukherjea discovers that “the overt theory to the character of Bella, diag- masculinity and femininity” (p. 148). abstinence-until-marriage message of nosing her with Dependent Personality Refuting the previous author’s percep- the franchise, so disturbing to me, does Disorder (DPD) and an unhealthy tion of Edward as “safe and depend- not necessarily prevent fans from using devotion to the novels of Jane Austen. able,” Shachar implies that he is little the story as an outlet for their own Tenga acknowledges that feminists may more than a rapist, “literally imprinting desires,” and that the security afforded find Bella an inappropriate role model himself upon his victim’s flesh, as if she by Edward is not perceived as control- for young readers, but counters that were an object” (p.158). By the essay’s ling, but rather comforting to young by “the standards of her own fictional end, she encourages readers to question fans who still vividly recall the terrorist models…Bella reaches her goals and essentialist thinking, which does not attacks of 9/11 (pp. 75, 81). Despite receives the classic rewards: marriage, recognize the “naturally desirable” as a her reservations about the books’ anti- motherhood, and upward mobility” (p. cultural construct (p. 160). feminist and homophobic elements, 113). By Part III (“Twilight Through an Mukherjea is persuaded that the series Intersectional Lens”), the editors’ stated does provide a “secure outlet” for fans The comparisons between Twi- goal of creating a “user-friendly” book to “indulge and explore important de- light and nineteenth-century British for fans and scholars alike is all but sires and personal boundaries” (p. 82). fiction continue with Sarah Wakefield’s abandoned, with five dense chapters examination of Wuthering Heights. on such light-hearted [not!] topics as Part II (“Once Upon a Twilight”) Wakefield traces the connections patriarchy, white privilege, and rape focuses on the literary context of the between the two stories, with Edward culture. Melissa Miller, who is writing novels, with contributors debating as a slightly more evolved Edgar Linton her dissertation on Twilight, claims which characters best evoke the roman- and Jacob, the werewolf, replacing the that the saga “promotes a dangerous tic Byronic hero. It opens, however, id-driven Heathcliff. Issues of race and and damaging ideology of patriarchy with an essay by Ashley Benning on class remain, but “by combining the that normalizes and rationalizes the the subject of age in the series. After best of their features into two men who control of women by men” (p. 165). several digressions, Benning gets down can stay in the heroine’s life,” Wake- She goes on to enumerate the ways in to her analysis, noting in particular field argues that in the Twilight series, which Edward exhibits the controlling that adults, both mortal and immor- Meyer successfully resolves Cathy behavior of an abuser, while engaging tal, have a limited ability to serve as Earnshaw’s eternal dilemma (p. 129). with various seminal critics (Mulvey, leaders or protectors of their families In “Rewriting the Byronic Hero,” Gerbner, etc.) to posit that the me- (p. 95). At the end of the essay, she Jessica Groper argues that despite his dia, by offering up Edward Cullen as again changes course and discusses the outward appearance as a brooding the ideal boyfriend, are encouraging multi-generational appeal of the story vampire, Edward Cullen is, in fact, the impressionable consumers to seek out (and young-adult literature in general), exact opposite of a Byronic hero (p. potentially violent mates (p. 174).

Page 4 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Book Reviews

Ashley Donnelly, an assistant Theorizing Twilight closes with professor at Ball State, continues the an essay by Lindsey Issow Averill, of exploration of patriarchal privilege and Keiser University, on Twilight as a re- heteronormativity in the novels. She telling of the story of Adam and Eve, seems to believe that without scholarly but one “where the female body and intervention, “these oppressive ideolo- female fecundity are completely erased, gies [will] engrain themselves in the while male reproduction remains collective unconscious” (p. 192). Co- intact” (p. 225). She argues that for a editor Natalie Wilson’s contribution woman to achieve the ultimate exis- to the volume traces the binaries of tence as a vampire, she must kill her Edward Cullen/Jacob Black, vampire/ womb, commit gynocide (p. 235). werewolf, light/dark, ego/id and how Some of the essays in this final sec- these constructs work to reinforce tion read like an arms race of outrage, white privilege and the “othering” of an opportunity for new scholars to es- the werewolves as noble savages. She tablish their street cred by tearing into provides a brief history of the werewolf a problematic cultural artifact, focusing and a fascinating synopsis of the “ra- on its flaws to justify a righteous in- cialized beliefs” in the Book of Mor- dignation. It remains to be seen if this mon, before concluding, “The ideology tactic proves effective in reaching an of Twilight serves at least in part to audience more interested in debating champion and bolster white privilege the finer points of Team Edward versus and to keep the wolfy Other firmly in Team Jacob. That being said, the edi- his half-naked place” (pp. 202, 206). tors have included a thoughtful selec- In the penultimate chapter, Anne tion of essays on the controversial and Torkelson, another dissertator, this polysemic Twilight saga, and this book time from the University of Minnesota offers much for feminists to ponder. Duluth, casts a critical eye over Twi- Without doubt, the issues raised and light’s normalizing and romanticizing subjects explored make this volume a of violence toward women (p. 210). In worthy addition to any collection. addition to Bella’s self-esteem issues, Torkeson uses the story of every female [Pamela O’Donnell reads a lot of vampire vampire character to support her fiction, an indulgence that only occasion- contention that women are repeatedly ally interferes with her day job as an denied agency in choosing their fate. academic librarian. She holds an M.A. She also mines the message boards and in Library & Information Studies and comment sections of several Twilight- an M.A. in Communications (Media & related websites to reveal how read- Cultural Studies) from the University of ers often accept the myths of a rape Wisconsin–Madison.] culture (p. 213).

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 5 Book Reviews

French Women Directing Film: Pallister and Hottell’s Filmographies

by Diana King

Janis L. Pallister, FRENCH-SPEAKING WOMEN FILM DIRECTORS: A GUIDE. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson Uni- versity Press, 1997. 250p. bibl. index. $40.00, ISBN 978-0838637364.

Janis L. Pallister & Ruth A. Hottell, FRANCOPHONE WOMEN FILM DIRECTORS: A GUIDE. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2005. 292p. bibl. index. $55.00, ISBN 978-0838640463; e-book, ISBN 978-0838643679.

Janis L. Pallister & Ruth A. Hottell, FRENCH-SPEAKING WOMEN DOCUMENTARIANS: A GUIDE. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. 279p. bibl. index. $86.95, ISBN 978-0820476148.

Janis L. Pallister & Ruth A. Hottell, NOTEWORTHY FRANCOPHONE WOMEN DIRECTORS: A SEQUEL. Madi- son: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2011. 222p. bibl. index. $65.00, ISBN 978-1611474435; e-book, ISBN 978- 1611474442.

The scholarly filmography has long functioned as The four volumes reviewed here are very much situated an important tool for researchers and instructors, and has in this context, as well as in European studies, literatures and ranged widely in scope and function. Much like bibliogra- languages, and women’s studies. The set of monographs be- phies of print materials, filmographies were first developed gan in 1997 with Janis L. Pallister’s French-Speaking Women before the emergence of online catalogs and served a crucial Directors: A Guide, and ended with Pallister and Ruth A. role in both the discovery of new directors and the “about- Hottell’s last volume together, Noteworthy Francophone ness” of film content. Women Directors: A Sequel, in 2011. A fifth publication Particularly since the 1970s, numerous filmographies should also be noted, a lengthy article by Pallister published focused on women and gender have been created, both in in the Fall 2007 issue of WIF Newsletter, titled “Animation print and online. These are increasingly international in and Anime by Francophone Women Directors.”1 Pallis- coverage, and they supplement weaknesses and gaps found ter’s interest in including animators is evident both in this in large general projects such as the AFI Catalog and Film supplementary publication and in the much earlier French- Index International, library catalogs that provide minimal Speaking Film Directors, as she notes that broad histories metadata, and subject-specific works that heavily favor Hol- of animation frequently ignore female and non-American lywood feature films and American documentaries. artists (p. 8). This inclusion of a variety of film and video In the case of women filmmakers, the creation of forms, also entailing shorts and documentaries, is one of the filmographic tools is often particularly tied to biographi- strengths of the volumes, since there is little secondary schol- cal discovery, historical reclamation, and an argument for arship about these less-well-known forms and titles. greater inclusivity in classroom syllabi. However, tradition- ally published filmographies almost inevitably suffer from These four books, all interconnected, represent a the problems of any list-driven project: they have gaps and progression of information that brings in new directors and authorial blind spots; they cannot foresee the myriad of ways builds on past entries. The result is a compilation of some- in which researchers may prefer content data to be orga- times unevenly researched details and bio-bibliographical nized; and they are bound in time to their date of publica- information on francophone films directed by women, most tion unless their authors publish updated volumes. Their useful as a starting place for instructors and researchers at current and future usefulness also bear examination in light the academic level. These works explicitly do not purport to of freely available Internet resources like IMDb.com and the be critical studies of the films or directors, but rather func- rise of digital humanities projects as a means of disseminat- tion as beginning reference points for identifying titles. In ing scholarship and information. this they succeed, but they also foreground how much more can be done with the subject, format, and content.

Page 6 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Book Reviews

Pallister’s first volume, French-Speaking Women Film listed here, however, are only a subset of those in Chapter Directors: A Guide, outlined the origins of what would 1, and some are neither French-language nor directed by become an ongoing series of publications over the course of women — for instance, Fellini’s 8 ½ and Michael Apted’s nearly fifteen years. Initially a response to a call for a manual Nell. Although these titles may be of interest to instructors on francophone women filmmakers for members of Women working with the specific themes listed, it is odd to find in French (WIF),2 the project, “while originally intended for them in a monograph entitled French-Speaking Women Film French professors teaching women’s studies and film cours- Directors. es,” was meant to “be of use for others too” (p. 7). The main audience was primarily instructors, and perhaps particularly Pallister and Hottell’s 2005 follow-up volume, Fran- those without an extensive background in teaching film. cophone Women Film Directors: A Guide, contains a similar Pallister included a glossary of film terms, which was most chapter, with the same inclusion of films outside the scope useful for its translation of major concepts from French into implied by the book’s title, and notes that the lists “are English, as well as a chapter of “Questions for Film Analysis” merely posts intended for use by film instructors and others and another of sample syllabi. These sections were dropped who may be interested in establishing a film program on a in later volumes, an editorial decision that was ultimately given subject” (p. 219). The content is thus neither com- a wise choice, since they were general in nature and more prehensive nor within the book title’s scope, and it would extensive sources are now available elsewhere. ultimately have been more worthwhile to integrate subjects Although the first volume also includes an annotated for individual films from the “Directors and Their Films” bibliography and a list of film distribution sources, its most chapter into a separate subject index. substantial part is Chapter 1, “Directors and Their Films.” The 2005 volume does build upon and strengthen The entries here are organized by country and, in some Pallister’s original work, with a more detailed introduction cases, by continent or region (for instance, African film and that describes strides in published scholarship about and Caribbean film). In the case of Québec, there is no cross- increased filmmaking by francophone women directors, reference with Canada, which also isn’t listed separately; this but also continued gaps in coverage by general reference makes an implicit political point, but may be confusing for works. As Jennifer Gauthier notes in her 2006 review of the users who just want to look something up quickly without volume, though, this critique of lacunae in publishing misses reading the whole book. the mark when it is lobbed against critics like Leonard Mal- tin who focus on mainstream feature films and are therefore Entries listing the films of individual directors range far less likely to write about short films and experimental from a simple title list with dates to much longer compila- works, which Pallister and Hottell admirably do cover tions of biographical information, plot synopses, and even (p. 512).3 The authors are correct, though, in noting the some translated French citations. Some synopses come particularly poor coverage — in both popular and scholarly directly from vendor catalogs, while others go beyond basic literature — of women directors in Africa and Québec, a description to give more of the author’s critical viewpoint. consequence of how difficult distribution and hence visibil- For instance, in the entry for Brigitte Sauriol’s Rien qu’un ity to audiences can be. As Pallister and Hottell put it, jeu, Pallister notes that “[p]erhaps because this work is filmed and scripted by women, the importance of power [O]ne must attribute the lack of atten- structures and manipulation in the unfolding of this ‘psy- tion to women’s films not only to what chological drama’ are not to be underrated” (p. 134). This might be a blatant case of sexism but also argument for the perspective of the female director and/ to problems of distribution. Because they or screenwriter is one that could have been discussed more are underfinanced, and certainly because fully and critically in the book’s introduction, which focused of distribution problems. . .the majority of mainly on the exclusion of female directors from film guides the films cited in our guide are not treated and histories. in mainstream journals nor available in Chapter 2, “Core Concepts and Themes,” which is the video shops. (p. 13) book’s next most substantial chapter, proves more problematic, functioning effectively as the book’s only subject index While video shops themselves are becoming an en- (since the book’s main index only includes author and title). dangered species, the fragmented and gap-prone world of Titles on selected themes are listed, including abortion, colo- online streaming and mail-based DVD lending has hardly nial life, filmmaking, homosexuality, and racism. Most films democratized access to all of the titles they cover; nor has the

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 7 Book Reviews tendency of DVDs produced in France to exclude English documentarians in the introduction (without commentary) subtitles helped to develop a broader audience in courses and making a regional argument that African, Belgian, and where there is not a language prerequisite. Although a list Québécois directors “are perhaps more inclined to examine of distributors is included at the end of the book, it is very various aspects of society . . . through the documentary or selective, and it is not clear how many films included in the the docudrama than are the French women, who tend to book do not have a known distributor. exploit the fictional mode to criticize many of the same things” (p. xiii). Although the authors make clear that they Some copyediting improvements were made in the are focused on presenting a handy guide to films more than 2005 volume, including putting the directors’ names in “last anything else, it would be worth exploring further in future name, first name” order instead of the reverse. Additional scholarship how gender dynamics impact funding, distri- synopses and translated content from French websites are bution, and exhibition — as well as choice of genre and also included, and the volume draws more heavily from subject matter — in francophone filmmaking. IMDb.com and other Internet content. While this is not inherently negative, given that some lesser-known contem- Women Documentarians includes a “Sources for porary directors are most represented in online sources, Films” section with vendors and basic bibliography. There some of the websites have of course since changed, or are no are also synopses for most films, although many are only longer available. Because the websites are simply listed in en- given in French and are taken directly from websites. Scope tries for individual films, with little other information, they becomes an issue with the inclusion of directors like Anne are much harder to track over time than the fully cited print Aghion, who “apparently does not work in French” (p. 1), sources available in the book’s well-developed bibliography. but whose documentary work was shot in a francophone It is also difficult to tell at times if the plot synopses are country (in this case, Rwanda). This again raises the ques- taken directly from source material online, or are written by tion of how wide a net the authors wish to cast in their the authors themselves. For example, this entry for Mimi by filmographies, because the net often seems to be wider than Claire Simon is unattributed: “A woman tells us about her the titles of the works themselves imply. life, her dramas, her sorrows . . . All of this is fatally banal Finally, although there is some very minimal subject and yet unique and universal” (p. 192). As with the other indexing in the back, this volume in particular could have volumes, details vary considerably by director, with minimal benefitted by some clear subject organization via an index, notes. For instance, the synopsis for Jacqueline Kalimunda’s or even a basic title list arranged by subject. Documentaries film Tresses simply reads, “[h]airdressing in Paris” (p. 27), tend to be less well-known than feature films, and the topics with little sense of genre or tone. here range from Islam to mental illness and to biographical Some documentaries are included in Francophone portraits of visual artists. While country of origin can be one Women Film Directors, but their presence is spotty; readers important entry point, researchers often seek documenta- are in some cases referred to Pallister and Hottell’s other ries based more on topic than on geographical filmmaking 2005 volume, French-Speaking Women Documentarians: A region or even original language. Guide. TheGuide is the only one of the four works reviewed here to be published by Peter Lang instead of Fairleigh Dick- Pallister and Hottell’s final volume together was the inson University Press (as part of a Lang series called “Fran- 2011 Noteworthy Francophone Women Directors: A Sequel, cophone Cultures & Literatures”). Unlike the previous two which builds on previous work, yet departs from it in overall volumes, this one does not include a “Core Concepts and organization. Sadly, Pallister passed away in 2008; the book Themes” chapter, but focuses instead on organizing directors is dedicated to her memory. This volume takes a different by country and referring readers to the “concepts” sections approach from the others, dividing films into chapters by in the other works and in Pallister’s 1995 The Cinema of broad type rather than geographically. The advantage of this Québec: Masters in Their Own House. depends on how an individual is hoping to use the content — but not having to guess the country of origin for a par- Regions of Canada are better organized in this ticular filmmaker does make finding a known name much volume, and include “Acadia,” British Columbia, Mani- easier! The text is divided into “Feature Films,” “Documen- toba, Ontario, and Québec. As in the other volumes, the taries,” “Shorts,” and “Sources,” with a bibliography and authors hint here at the importance of a director’s gender list of selected world festivals. The festival list points to the to the filmmaking process, but do not go into great detail, importance of the venue as a means of distribution for many beyond placing some French-language quotes from women international filmmakers, and is timely given the relatively recent rise of “film festival studies” as an area of scholarship.

Page 8 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Book Reviews

The introduction to the Sequel reiterates themes of pre- women rather than on the gender of the directors — for vious volumes — notably, increased distribution and appre- instance, Carolyn L. Galerstein’s Working Women on the Hol- ciation of women filmmakers’ work, coupled with the reality lywood Screen: A Filmography (1989), and Maryann Oshana’s that funding opportunities have declined in some countries Women of Color: A Filmography of Minority and Third World and that “much of mainstream film scholarship and film Women (1985). festivals do continue to overlook films made by women” (p. Reference works in the 1990s, such as The Women’s xi). Because of the sheer number of documentaries available, Companion to International Film (Khun and Radstone, eds., Pallister and Hottell only include them here if they are by a 1990), Women Filmmakers & Their Films (Unterburger, director represented in the feature film section. While this ed., 1998), and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster’s Women Film keeps the list manageable, it also decreases the diversity of Directors: An International Bio-Critical Dictionary, included listings and means that researchers interested in documen- more international films and filmmakers. Pallister mentions tary should also consult the Women Documentarians volume. Foster’s work, in particular, in French-Speaking Women Film Directors as an important contribution, and Foster’s Diction- The authors do clarify scope a bit more in this ary does contain the most extensive introduction and inter- volume, noting that “[w]e are interested in listing all films nationally diverse compilation of directors. Foster’s actual by French-speaking women directors, whether the film in filmographies, however, are “selected” and unannotated, question is in French or in some other language” (p. xiii). with fewer than twenty-five entries for directors who might However, it is necessary to consult previous volumes for a be considered francophone. fuller picture of some filmmakers. For instance, the lengthy entry in this volume on Agnès Varda covers only selected In the last decade, two works in particular are notably work from 2003 forward. While there is a longer entry for complementary to those of Pallister and Hottell. Rebecca Moroccan-born filmmaker Yasmine Kassari under “Feature Hillauer’s Encyclopedia of Arab Women Filmmakers (2005) Films” (p. 68), the “Documentaries” section only lists two is arranged by region, country, and filmmaker, but does titles, with no dates (p. 149). One of those documentaries, include a French language film title index to identify fran- Quand les homes pleurent, is described more extensively with cophone films from across geographical areas. Hillauer takes a synopsis and quotes by the director in French, but only the extra step of including select reviews and interviews with in the 2005 Women Documentarians volume. In this way, filmmakers, and presents introductory content contextual- the Sequel volume truly does intersect with previous works, izing filmmaking practice in each country. adding new content but just as often serving as an update or Taking a different tack with a broad scope is Jane Sloan’s notation on prior entries. Reel Women: An International Directory of Contemporary Fea- ture Films About Women (2007). While focusing exclusively Pallister and Hottell’s work builds on published (and on narrative features, Sloan accomplishes the most detailed no doubt, unpublished) English-language filmographies and subject indexing of any book mentioned here, with attention guides that have approached similar themes and goals in to race, age, themes and topics, nationality, and time period. different ways. The late 1970s and 1980s in particular saw Like Galerstein and Oshana, Sloan is largely concerned with a major increase in reference monographs with film-related documenting different kinds of representation on the screen, lists, including several focused on women in some way. as opposed to spotlighting female filmmakers through a Kaye Sullivan’s 1980 Films For, By and About Women, which bio-bibliographical narrative. She helpfully includes a clearly spawned a 1985 follow-up, sought to provide an annotated stated “Criteria for Inclusion” section that is far more suc- filmography that presented “a historical view of sex roles” cinctly detailed than such sections in similar works, as well and aimed “to present women filmmakers and identify the as an introductory critical survey arranged thematically. genre of films made by each one” (p. v).4 Sullivan included Because Reel Women’s coverage is international, is limited to many short films, documentary works, and an extensive features, and includes both male and female directors, it has subject index in her publication. Although she included both wider breadth and less depth than the geographical, some international films, the female directors in her volumes multi-type, and directorially-based work of Hillauer and of are primarily from the United States. Other monographs Pallister and Hottell. It is a more natural successor to the from the same time period include Alexa Foreman’s Women earlier work of authors like Sullivan and Galerstein, contex- in Motion (1983), which added sections on editors and tualized through a film-studies critical lens that is notably screenwriters, and also works focused on representation of different from the languages-and-literatures background of Pallister and Hottell.

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 9 Book Reviews

All four of the volumes under review here offer useful The scholarly filmography, in whatever form it is points of discovery for researchers and instructors, but in the published, continues to play an important role in the identi- current publishing context, one is struck by the sense that fication and understanding of media, largely because of the the content may not necessarily be an ideal fit for the con- critical and curatorial role of authors in providing subject tainer. Indeed, most of the volumes retain a similar structure control as well as social, biographical, and historical context. to one another that has changed little over time, with a short Pallister and Hottell have made a significant contribution to introduction, standard indexes in the back with different lev- existing filmographies and guides that include francophone els of complexity, and an arrangement that is often based on women directors, and their more in-depth focus allows one geographical region that reflects neither some directors’ researchers to learn about these filmmakers beyond the typi- displacement from their country of origin nor transnational cal short list that appears in general histories and on syllabi. filmmaking practice. Furthermore, as has been mentioned In reviewing these volumes, one can also see the continu- before in this review, later volumes refer back to earlier ones; ing difficulty in obtaining substantive information on some for instance, there are entries for Chantal Akerman in all directors and in even finding their works. The authors have four of the books, none of which are exactly the same; in the compiled data on films that may inspire more diverse class case of Noteworthy Francophone Women Directors: A Sequel, screenings and critical scholarship, and very well may be the entry for Akerman refers to the previous works for earlier conceived as a digital project that could reach a greater information. number of people. Because Pallister and Hottell’s filmographies work best as a combined pot of information, they would function Notes incredibly well if they were to be reconfigured as an open access digital database tool. This would also allow for contin- 1. Janis L. Pallister, “Animation and Anime by Francophone ued revision and updating in one space. Digital humanities Women Directors,” WIF Newsletter v. 21, no. 2 (Fall 2007), publishing is still fairly new, and there are substantive ques- pp.17–48. tions about sustainability, metadata, funding, and implications for peer review. However, if a major goal of these texts 2. http://www.english.womeninfrench.org/ is to provide needed exposure and increased instructional use of francophone women directors’ works, a sustainable 3. Jennifer L. Gauthier, “Francophone Women Film Direc- online version of the filmographic information could well be tors,” American Review of Canadian Studies v. 36, no. 3 (Fall a more visible and organized approach. It could also allow 2006), pp.512–514. for the inclusion of distributor information for individual films as it becomes available, and of women in other roles 4. Kay Sullivan, Films For, By and About Women (Metuchen, behind the screen, such as editors, designers, and particu- N.J.: Scarecrow, 1980). larly screenwriters. [Diana King is the librarian for film, television, theater, dance, gender and LGBT studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.]

Page 10 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Special Section: Reproductive Justice

Surveilling the Body: Reproductive Technologies and the Pregnant Body

by Liz Barr

Michelle Murphy, SEIZING THE MEANS OF REPRODUCTION: ENTANGLEMENTS OF FEMINISM, HEALTH, AND TECHNOSCIENCE. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012. (Experimental Futures Series.) 272p. notes. bibl. index. pap., $23.95, ISBN 978-0822353362.

Laura Tropp, A WOMB WITH A VIEW: AMERICA’S GROWING PUBLIC INTEREST IN PREGNANCY. Santa Bar- bara, CA: Praeger, 2013. 193p. notes. bibl. index. $37.00, ISBN 978-1440828096.

Isabel Karpin & Kristin Savell, PERFECTING PREGNANCY: LAW, DISABILITY, AND THE FUTURE OF REPRO- DUCTION. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2012 (paperback edition, 2014). (Cambridge Disability Law and Policy Series.) 394p. bibl. index. $103.00, ISBN 978-0521765206; pap., $34.99, ISBN 978-0521758390.

Elly Teman, BIRTHING A MOTHER: THE SURROGATE BODY AND THE PREGNANT SELF. Berkeley, CA: Uni- versity of California Press, 2010. 384p. notes. bibl. index. pap., $29.95, ISBN 978-0520259645.

BORN IN THE U.S.A. 57 mins. 2007. Film by Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider; distributed by PatchWorks Films (http://www.patchworksfilms.net/films/flash_video/born_usa_vid.html). DVD: purchase by institutions, $250.00; by community groups, $89.00. Streaming video: online rental, $7.99 (personal use only).

As women tweet pictures of their Feminist concerns about the multidirectional process of uptake and pregnancy tests, tabloid magazines surveillance and monitoring of preg- resistance. Feminists, Murphy argues, devote sections to celebrity “bump nant bodies can be linked to a larger sought to reclaim and reimagine the watches,” and more and more expect- genealogy of feminist concerns about tools by which women’s bodies were ant mothers create Facebook pages for the surveillance and monitoring of understood (vaginal self-exam, abor- their not-yet-born children, pregnancy women, generally. In the truly ex- tion, Pap smears) as part of a political and birth become increasingly public ceptional Seizing the Means of Repro- project of education and liberation. phenomena. Now more than ever, duction: Entanglements of Feminism, Murphy describes these technologies the pregnant body is monitored by Health, and Technoscience, feminist as “topologies of entanglement, that is, doctors, family members, and even historian and science and technology the uneven, spatial, and often contra- strangers. What was once considered scholar Michelle Murphy tells the story dictory traffic of connections that are a private experience for women is of feminist health movements in the the conditions of possibility of both shifting into a public concern. This United States, demonstrating the ways technoscience and feminism” (p. 103). move from the private realm to the that these movements reclaimed the Her focus on the reciprocity between public arena comes with its own set practices and processes of “women’s feminism and technoscience enables of complications and concerns for health.” For Murphy, feminist health her to provide a rich and subtle picture pregnant women and feminist schol- movements of the 1970s and 1980s of the women’s health movement that ars. As feminist scholars are making were engaging in “protocol feminism avoids romanticizing or homogenizing clear, the meanings of reproduction — a form of feminism concerned this era of feminist history. and pregnancy are changing, and with the recrafting and distribution one consequence of these changes is of technosocial practices” (p. 28). Murphy is exceedingly atten- increased surveillance and management Women’s health movements engaged tive to issues of race, geopolitics, and of pregnancy and birth. with reproductive technologies in a class, and her analysis is historically

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 11 Special Section: Reproductive Justice

the Means of Reproduction through media and other cultural an absolutely invaluable practices. resource for feminist Tropp expands her analysis beyond historians, science and the pregnant woman, arguing that technology scholars, cultural and market forces like reality and reproductive justice television, pregnancy blogs, and the advocates. pregnancy advice market have created “pregnancy voyeurs” who maintain the The Internet and publicity of pregnancy through their new communication tech- spectatorship (p. 50). A Womb with nologies make surveillance a View does an excellent job of ac- more visible, more aggres- counting for the multiplicity of actors sive, and practically om- invested in pregnancies and gives a nipresent. As technology great deal of attention to fathers’ roles changes what is knowable in public pregnancies. about pregnancy (through Unfortunately, this focus on het- better ultrasound imag- erosexual couples does not allow Tropp ery, improved embryonic to deeply challenge the heteronorma- testing), society changes tivity of dominant reproductive dis- what is considered accept- courses. Ultimately though, her critical able for pregnant women. analysis of pregnancy’s publicity, her In A Womb with a View: use of culturally relevant examples America’s Growing Public and her clear and accessible language Interest in Pregnancy, make this text a valuable resource for Laura Tropp traces the shifts in our cultural and grounded and extraordinarily rel- social under- evant. As just one example, she locates standings of — and rela- her discussion of the Pap smear as a tionships to — pregnancy cervical cancer screening tool within a and childbirth, rooting larger discussion of the concept of the this shift in cultural as “racial state,” arguing that Pap-smear well as technological de- screening projects must be considered velopments. Tropp makes within larger histories of unequal access two primary arguments: to health care, eugenics, and struc- first, that pregnancy has tural racism. She writes, “The multiple become an increasingly subject-figures of the Pap smear — the public event, and second, privileged well woman securing her that women negotiate this individualized healthful vitality and the new publicity through at-risk women of mass screening for their interactions with whom cervical cancer was calculated as media and new commu- a deadly statistical possibility — were nication technologies. She the effect of the very different condi- explores pregnancy’s move tions in which Pap smears could be from medical experience situated” (p. 114). to social experience, argu- Murphy’s thoughtful attention to ing that pregnancy today the breadth of influences on women’s is a hybrid medical-social health movements (technologies, geo- experience, and demon- politics, race, class, gender, sexuality, strates how expertise is location, relationships) makes Seizing contested and redefined

Page 12 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Special Section: Reproductive Justice students in media studies, women’s and risk, terminations, and gender studies, and cultural studies. deselections, they meticu- lously detail the intrica- Like Tropp in A Womb with a cies of existing legal codes View, Isabel Karpin and Kristin Savell regulating women’s choices interrogate the publicity of pregnancy in Australia, the United in Perfecting Pregnancy: Law, Disability, States, the United King- and the Future of Reproduction, provid- dom, and Europe. ing a thorough and detailed account of As Karpin and Savell the ways that “women in contempo- make clear, discourses of rary Western society are encouraged to risk and disability per- imagine their pregnancies as processes vade Western cultural that can be perfected, indeed, that they consciousness, motivat- have a responsibility to perfect” (p. 3). ing many women to seek The authors are both legal scholars, and information about their through detailed analysis of the eth- fetus’s potential risk and ics of prenatal testing for disabilities, to do whatever possible to preimplantation genetic diagnosis of mitigate that risk. How- disabilities, and termination or deselec- ever, as the authors reveal, tion of potentially “disabled” embryos ambiguity surrounds and fetuses, they reveal the social and concepts of “disability,” cultural issues surrounding pregnancy “seriousness,” and “risk,” and disability. In chapters on disability, making these decisions extraordinarily complex. For Karpin and Savell, “these uncertainties of surrogacy in Israel, noting that open up productive spaces although much feminist scholarship for renegotiating ideas of on surrogacy focuses on how women normality and ablebod- and pregnancy become commodified iedness” (p. 237). through the surrogacy process, little Through its careful of it centers actual surrogates and and critical legal analy- intended mothers. sis, Perfecting Pregnancy To remedy this, Teman conducted reveals the ways that legal years of fieldwork with surrogates and discourse constructs lives intended mothers in Israel, her research and raises questions about resulting in a wealth of rich ethno- surveillance and women’s graphic data. She identified several bodily autonomy. Thus, it themes, including ways that surrogates is a vitally useful text for strategically disengage from certain feminist scholars, disabil- parts of their bodies and pregnancies, ity studies scholars, and how surrogates and intended mothers critical legal scholars. form connections with each other, how surrogates and intended mothers form In another fascinat- connections with each other, how they ing case study, Birthing form (or resist forming) attachments to a Mother: The Surrogate the fetuses, and how medical and legal Body and the Pregnant systems separate the newborn baby Self, Elly Teman offers from the surrogate to form a hetero- a compelling analysis normative nuclear family.

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Finally, Teman rereads surrogates’ Unfortunately, most of the hospi- As these diverse texts make stories through the lens of the hero(ine) tal births do result in medial interven- clear, pregnancy and reproduction are narrative, arguing that although surro- tions, and the unequal power dynamics increasingly becoming global feminist gates’ bodies are surveilled, monitored, between doctors and laboring women issues. The historical analysis in Seizing and regulated, this “structural disem- become clearly evident. As an example, the Means of Reproduction, the cultural powerment becomes the grounds for MeeAe Rank, shown in the hospital analysis in A Womb with a View, and these women to exercise agency; they delivering her first baby, had initially the case studies in Perfecting Pregnancy, use their subjection to mechanisms of planned on a natural birth, but because Born in the U.S.A., and Birthing a control to elevate themselves above that her labor was not progressing quickly Mother begin to elucidate the myriad control to a place of power they have enough, she ended up needing a Cesar- issues that surround reproduction, never before approached” (p. 279). ean section. After the delivery, MeeAe pregnancy, and childbirth. As the preg- Ultimately, Teman’s research shows shares her disappointment at having nant body is surveilled and monitored, how both women in the surrogacy ar- had a Cesarean section and being the it becomes increasingly important for rangement “together and individually, last one in the room to see her baby. feminist scholars to raise questions make surrogacy more about personal Born in the USA’s interviews with like those raised by these authors and agency, gift giving, heroism, and birth- OB/GYNs are quite telling, as even filmmakers. How do women negotiate ing a mother” (p. 285). This gripping these trained professionals acknowledge the publicity of their pregnancies? How ethnographic study adds nuance to the that many interventions happen un- do women engage with the technologi- theoretical debates about surrogacy, necessarily. The directors film a hospital cal and cultural surveillance of their ethics, and autonomy. Birthing a Moth- staff meeting where the doctors and pregnant bodies? How are women ener is an excellent resource for feminist residents discussed a planned induc- acting agency in the face of aggressive anthropologists, ethnographers, and tion that ended in a Cesarean section reproductive technologies and cultural scholars interested in the global politics because, again, labor was not progress- imperatives? The works reviewed ad- of reproduction and embodiment. ing quickly enough. One doctor noted, dress these questions and many others, “It’s impossible not to have to go back ultimately arriving at the conclusion The documentary Born in the and sort of wonder about whether we that, through navigating the complex U.S.A. chronicles several women’s birth somehow induced, so to speak, this terrain of public pregnancy, women experiences, convincingly depicting outcome by interfering with mother are able to resist dominant discourses. the rampant medicalization of birth nature” (28:53). The authors and filmmakers suggest and providing sharp contrasts between Although race and class emerge different modes of negotiation, but home births, birth center births, and as themes in the film (the home birth all share a clear feminist concern for hospital births. The directors are takes place in a very nice house; the women’s autonomy and agency in spite thorough in their coverage of different birthing center is in the South Bronx of surveillance, monitoring, and public birth experiences, arguing that — for and serves primarily Latina and Black concern. low-risk pregnancies — birth center women), the directors do not directly and home births are less stressful, address these themes, thereby miss- [Liz Barr is a Ph.D. student in com- provide women with more agency, ing an opportunity to deepen their munication arts — rhetoric, politics, and and result in better outcomes for both analysis. culture — at the University of Wiscon- mother and child. Viewers are en- Clocking in at just under an hour, sin–Madison. Her research focuses on couraged to identify with the women Born in the USA makes a great resource mental illness and agency, as well as HIV depicted in the film and to invest for women’s health classes or intro- and representation. She enjoys biking, emotionally in these women’s birth ex- ductory gender and women’s studies baking, and her little animal family.] periences. We cheer on the home births classrooms. The film’s clear feminist and hope that the hospital births are message about the need to empower able to avoid medical interventions. women throughout their birthing experiences, along with its attention to the complicated issue of medicalization and childbirth, would certainly spark discussion among students.

Page 14 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Special Section: Reproductive Justice

Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC): A Reproductive Justice Concern? by Kristin Ryder

Joan C. Chrisler, ed., REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: A GLOBAL CONCERN. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012. (Wom- en’s Psychology Series.) 318p. index. $58.00, ISBN 978-0313393396.

Rickie Solinger, REPRODUCTIVE POLITICS: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®. New York: Oxford Universi- ty Press, 2013. (What Everyone Needs to Know Series.) notes. index. 240p. $74.00, ISBN 978-0199811403; pap., $16.95, ISBN 978-0199811410.

Chikako Takeshita, THE GLOBAL BIOPOLITICS OF THE IUD: HOW SCIENCE CONSTRUCTS CONTRACEP- TIVE USERS AND WOMEN’S BODIES. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2011. (Inside Technology Series.) 254p. notes. bibl. index. $32.00, ISBN 978-0262016582.

Nicole Rousseau, BLACK WOMAN’S BURDEN: COMMODIFYING BLACK REPRODUCTION. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 240p. notes. bibl. index. $100.00, ISBN 978-0230615304.

First theorized in 1994 by currently frame the social and historical ing the complexity of women’s experi- American women of color activists contexts of these technologies. While ences globally” (p. 122). Edited by such as Loretta Ross, the term repro- each of the works I read are extremely feminist psychologist Joan Chrisler, the ductive justice refers to achieving “the thought-provoking, I was somewhat chapters are organically organized into complete physical, mental, spiritual, disappointed to realize that there seems twelve key issues that affect the overall political, economic, and social well- to be a disconnect when it comes to well-being of women and girls world- being of women and girls.”1 It en- tying together the concept of reproduc- wide. When one hears “reproductive compasses both reproductive health tive justice and LARC methods. For justice,” it may be typical to first think and reproductive rights concerns, yet example, while two of the four books of contraception and abortion, or of envelops them in a social justice and offer broader overviews that describe widely controversial or illicit practices human rights framework. A reproduc- contraception as a reproductive justice such as sex trafficking, female genital tive justice framework seeks to address and/or rights issue, they miss a critical mutilation, and female feticide. To ad- and overcome the inequities formed opportunity to mention the eugenic dress these limiting modes of thought by intersecting ideologies of oppres- underpinnings and population-control and analysis, Chrisler includes topics sion, including but not limited to origins of LARC methods, particularly that are often not portrayed as — even racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, IUDs, and how freedom to refuse the though they clearly are — reproductive xenophobia, and religious fundamen- use of these methods is just as impor- justice issues, such as homophobia and talism,2 as they relate to the “control tant as access to them. Conversely, the transphobia, STI transmission, restric- and exploitation of women’s bodies, authors of the remaining books address tive partner selection, and inadequate sexuality, and reproduction as an ef- and interrogate these concerns regard- postpartum healthcare. In addition to fective strategy of controlling women ing LARC, yet either do not use or do expanding what reproductive justice and communities, particularly those of not support using the term reproductive means for the reader by including top- color” (Chrisler, p. 121). justice in their analyses. ics that are not often explicitly referred As a feminist scholar who focuses to as reproductive issues, the con- on the reproductive justice implica- Contributors to Reproductive tributors partner heartbreaking stories tions of long-acting reversible contra- Justice: A Global Concern aptly illustrate and statistics with hopeful solutions, ception (LARC), which includes intra- that the reproductive justice frame- allowing the reader to become an active uterine devices (IUDs) and subdermal work, though it “emerged from an participant in the material. implants, I was excited to learn how American racialized political context… scholars from four different disciplines is particularly appropriate for examin-

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 15 Special Section: Reproductive Justice

While this much-needed en- range of issues, including environmen- Depo-Provera is not even considered a deavor largely succeeds in acknowledg- talist perspectives on birth control, long-acting contraceptive, since its ef- ing the myriad issues, both domestic the role of men in reproductive rights fectiveness lasts only for three months. and global, that affect the overall debates, and religious teachings about Additionally, Solinger fails to note well-being of women and girls, the contraception. Though this resource that a different subdermal contracep- chapter entitled “Contraception and in no way claims that the questions tive implant, Implanon/Nexplanon, is Abortion: Critical Tools for Achieving included are the only ones being now in use; that rates of both implant Reproductive Justice” narrowly frames asked, or that each has been exhaus- and IUD use are steadily increasing in the problem as one rooted in unmet tively answered, the brief response to the U.S. due to recent shifts in recom- need for contraception and abortion “Why are long-acting contraceptives mendation and rigorous marketing and services. Certainly, access to a education campaigns; and that range of contraceptive meth- the employment of these devices ods and abortion is essential to is still quite politically contro- achieving reproductive justice. versial, not only because of their The right to refuse contracep- association with eugenic and tion and/or abortion, however, population-control policies, but is also essential. Understanding also because they may be dispro- how these tools have been (and portionately recommended for in many places still are) used as those who have historically been forms of population control, and considered “unfit” to reproduce, discussing forced and coerced such as women of color, women sterilization — both on U.S. soil of low socioeconomic status, and worldwide — are likewise women with disabilities, and critical to achieving reproductive drug-using women. justice. While the concept of re- Historian Rickie Solinger’s productive justice and the issues Reproductive Politics: What most notably associated with it, Everyone Should Know addresses such as coerced sterilization, are “highlights” about (American) noted in Solinger’s book, there reproductive politics, and is writ- is no mention of the similarly ten in an exceedingly accessible dark and complex history of and conversational question-and- LARC. In this way, for some- answer format that facilitates one who does not already know easy digestion of the information about this history, it would seem presented. It is one of a series of that the controversy (political “What Everyone Should Know” or otherwise) regarding long- titles published by Oxford acting methods has more or less University Press, which seek to convey politically controversial?” falls short in been resolved and that it was restricted “the essentials” about a wide variety of several ways and may lead the reader to only Norplant and Depo-Provera current topics to a broad readership. to incorrectly believe the issue is fully — the first no longer prescribed in Solinger focuses heavily on policy, addressed in the text. the U.S., and the other used rather science, and public opinion regarding For example, Solinger’s response infrequently compared to all available abortion, with three separate sections only refers to the intramuscular hormonal contraceptive methods. dedicated to this topic. Still, questions hormonal injectable contraceptive range from “What exactly did Roe v. Depo-Provera and the discontinued Though Reproductive Justice: Wade say?” to “How have attitudes subdermal implant Norplant as politi- A Global Concern and Reproductive about single and teenage pregnancy cally controversial LARC methods. In Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know changed since World War II?” In this fact, according to many health practi- are both geared toward educating the way, Solinger expertly tackles a wide tioners and contraceptive researchers, novice reproductive justice reader and

Page 16 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Special Section: Reproductive Justice

therefore offer broad overviews of and Women’s Bodies clearly delineates tive justice issue, support for the use of reproductive rights and justice, both and interrogates the historical, rhetori- the term reproductive justice is missing authors fail to take advantage of an cal, and social contexts of LARC tech- from the author’s text. opportunity to note the association be- nologies, specifically IUDs, through tween population control and LARC, a feminist Science and Technology Black Woman’s Burden: Com- thereby inadequately preparing the Studies (STS) perspective. modifying Black Reproduction suffers reader to understand the reproductive from the same omission. In this work, justice implications of these methods. The concepts Takeshita explores sociologist Nicole Rousseau presents a It is particularly shocking that Repro- include Michel Foucault’s “biopower,” comprehensive historical and rhetorical ductive Justice: A Global Concern does Donna Harraway’s “diffraction,” choice analysis of the numerous ways Black not address contraception, particularly as a biopolitical script, contraception women’s bodies have been used accord- long-acting methods, beyond the con- as a form of governance, “problematic ing to the shifting needs of the politi- text of unmet need, given the complex fertility,” and the racial economy of cal economy of the U.S., from forced role that long-acting methods have IUD promotion. In order to describe breeding during the age of slavery to played in population-control policies the ways in which the “ideal candidate” court-mandated sterilizations during throughout the Global South. for the IUD has shifted, Takeshita the Industrial Age that followed eman- highlights the seemingly ever-changing cipation. Where Chrisler’s and Solinger’s descriptions of contraceptive risk put In addition to relying on material texts lack the connection between forth by the medical community and feminism, Black feminism, and critical LARC methods and population control the pharmaceutical industry alike. race theory throughout the analysis, and/or eugenics, Chikako Takeshita’s For example, safety risks were de- Rousseau applies historical materialism The Global Biopolitics of the IUD: How emphasized in order to shift IUD use to Womanist theory, thereby creating Science Constructs Contraceptive Users from the “masses,” who were ideal historical Womanist theory. The author candidates at the height uses these frameworks to acknowl- of the “population bomb” edge and address the intersectionality era, to a new domestic of oppressions that have historically market of “moms.” In exploited, and continue to exploit, this way, the concepts women of color as a “unique laboring of choice, freedom, and class.” Rousseau also addresses the ways control were reframed. in which public perceptions of the With an emphasis on Black woman (e.g. Mammy, welfare IUDs as “lifestyle devices” queen, angry Black woman, etc.) are that afforded middle- manipulated by the State and the me- to upper-class (white) dia in order to mirror Black women’s women the opportunity place in the political economy at any to space their births, the given time. U.S. government and Big In the chapter “Gettin’ Your Tubes Pharma labeled them as Tied: Coercive Reproductive Policies,” individual birth control Rousseau notes numerous coercive devices. However, when reproductive policies that targeted they were disproportion- women of color during the “Era of ately marketed to, and Global Capitalism” (1975–1995) and in many cases their use in the “Electronic Age” (1996–2009), coerced among, historical- including state-sponsored programs, ly marginalized women, clinical trials, and cash incentives for these technologies were long-term contraception. population-control de- Subsequently, “Unsupported by vices. Though the history White women’s liberation movements and shifts that Takeshita in the struggles against [coercive re- describes are a reproduc- productive policies], Black women are

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 17 Special Section: Reproductive Justice forced to form organizations of their how the term should be used across Notes own” (p. 141). Though these are the disciplines. I would argue that LARC is same issues that prompted the forma- undeniably a reproductive justice issue, 1. Loretta J. Ross, “The Color of tion of a reproductive justice frame- and that it should be referenced as such Choice: White Supremacy and Repro- work by American women of color in reproductive justice literature just ductive Justice,” in Women’s Health: activists in the 1990s, Rousseau misses as much as it should be categorized as Readings on Social, Economic, and an opportunity to use the explicit term a reproductive justice issue in other Political Issues, eds. Nancy Worchester reproductive justice and to discuss how literature. & Mariamne H. Whatley (Dubuque: it can be applied to the phenomena Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, noted throughout the work. While each of the works 2009), pp. 509–519. As a reproductive justice advocate reviewed herein has numerous indi- and ally, I am concerned that even in vidual strengths, and although I believe 2. Ross, p. 509. the two books here that do reference reading them together can potentially the eugenic and population-control bridge the gap between LARC methods [Kristin Ryder is a graduate of the Gen- history of long-acting methods, the and reproductive justice, I must note der and Women’s Studies M.A. program term reproductive justice is absent. that failing to make this connection at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While there may be a number of plau- explicit is counterproductive to the She will go on to study at the University sible reasons for this, it indicates that movement toward complete well-being of Michigan’s School of Public Health in there may be differing opinions regard- for women and girls, and hinders the fall. Her interests include reproduc- ing whether or not LARC methods the act of continually remembering, tive health and justice, contraception, have reproductive justice implications acknowledging, and working to ensure and sexuality education.] separate from other methods, or about that past abuses are never repeated.

Page 18 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Professional Reading Teaching Women’s & Gender Studies

Catherine M. Orr, Ann Braithwaite, & Diane Lichtenstein, eds., Rethinking Women’s and Gender Stud- ies. New York: Routledge, 2012. 376p. bibl. index. pap., $49.95, ISBN 978-0415808316. Companion website: http:// www.routledge.com/cw/orr-9780415808309/

Reviewed by Glenda Jones

When I read Rosemarie Tong’s Ann Braithwaite, & Diane Lichten- accurately or less-problematically Feminist Thought: A More Comprehen- stein, the collection serves as a way to describes its history? What might be sive Introduction1 as a graduate student navigate through the eclectic web of some possibilities-and limitations-in about ten years ago, I was introduced scholarship, activism(s), tensions, and any new metaphor?” (p. 152). for the first time to liberal feminism, debates that collectively we know as radical feminism, Marxist and social- women’s and gender studies. Reading Part 1, Foundational Assumptions, ist feminism, and ecofeminism. Tong’s it gave me the opportunity not only to opens with a reflection on the key collection, in fact, along with the learn more about the field, but also to term Feminism, by Layli Maparyan, other texts we read in that introduc- go beyond the purely theoretical texts who discusses the problems a colleague tory course, helped me forge my own so often taught in graduate school and encountered teaching feminism from feminist identity. I was quite naïve then into the real issues we face as scholars a Eurocentric epistemology, noting about the complexities of the field of and teachers. that many students now take issue women’s and gender studies (WGS); with that perspective. As she took over nor had I any idea that eventually I This collection offers challenges the teaching of that course, Maparyan would be not only a professor of Eng- to the foundational assumptions of says, “an important part of my strategy lish, but also the director of a women’s the field. The text is also organized by was to introduce an interrogation of and gender studies program on a key terms, which is helpful for anyone the very ‘feminism’ that these students regional campus. teaching an advanced undergraduate or had found so cognitively and socially Attending statewide and national graduate course. Even those teaching dissonant” (p. 18). This opening es- conferences has helped me understand introductory undergraduate students say lays the appropriate groundwork the scope of scholarship in the WGS can benefit from rethinking challeng- for the collection, as it challenges the field, but I have definitely grappled ing debates in the field. very foundations of feminism and its with understanding the interdisciplin- The eighteen essay-chapters, relevance to an increasingly diverse ary nature of feminist scholarship, as grouped in five “parts,” are categorized student population. Maparyan chal- well as what and how to teach in WGS by familiar themes, and many of the lenges womanist teachers to move from courses. Do we teach from a feminist authors reference each other’s essays, the world of theoretical to a world of perspective? Should we start with which helps the reader situate and practical when she discloses that her the history of the field? Do we view contextualize the issues. Each part is own “objective is to deepen students’ women through a lens of institution- followed by several questions entitled commitment to personally making the ally prescribed roles in such areas as “Points to Ponder,” which are useful world a better place in some way or work, family, religion, and health care? pedagogical tools for graduate students another and heighten their ability to Surely those of us in academia have and academics interested in pursuing do so from a place of conscious aware- thought about ways to teach, but what further discussion. I found questions ness about multiple viable strategies about ways to think about these issues? like the following particularly helpful in the context of deep introspection Rethinking Women’s and Gender as I read and pondered the essays in about themselves and awareness of the Studies takes the reader beyond an the collection: “Is there a construct we relationship between self-change and introduction to the major issues — and might devise to understand the history world-change” (p. 29). even beyond the dirty laundry — in of WGS that does not use ‘Waves,’ Other essays in Part 1: “Interdis- the field. Edited by Catherine M. Orr, perhaps another metaphor that more ciplinarity,” by Diane Lichtenstein;

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 19 Professional Reading

“Methods,” by Katherine Side; “Peda- ality offers tools to examine the politics action, and ways of thinking about per- gogy,” by Susanne Luhmann. of everyday life (e.g., the lived experi- sons, rights, and liberation informed by ences of privilege and oppression, the multiplicity” (p. 164). Part 2, Ubiquitous Descriptions, implications and structures of margin- The other essays in Part 3 are opens with Catherine Orr’s essay on alization, and the phenomenological “Identity (Politics),” by Scott Lauria Activism. Orr delineates the uneasy and political meanings of identity)” (p. Morgensen, and “Queer,” by Jennifer partnership between activism and 156). For me, one of the most help- Purvis. academia, stating, The terms “[W]hen activism is brought together in the focus of analysis Part 4, Silences and in WGS contexts, the Disavowals, are linked issue under scrutiny is to terms in previous almost always about essays — e.g., “Disci- activism’s demise at the pline” links back to the hands of academic ex- “Interdisciplinarity” cesses” (p. 87). The role essay. In the introduc- of activism seems to be tion to this section, what sets WGS apart the editors explain that from other disciplines. the four terms brought Orr summarizes many together in this section of the debates about are meant to make the the role of activism in reader to think of ab- WGS: “We need to sences — places where rethink the political WGS is not present and project of WGS within perhaps does not want a framework beyond to be. Ann Braithwaite that of the university begins her “Discipline” itself. Activism’s lack of essay by asking whether definition and inter- or not WGS should be rogation means that feminist scholarship the discipline becomes in all the disciplines or vulnerable to the com- whether it should be plicity of other kinds delimited, and if so, of political agendas” delimited to what? (p. (p. 96). Also in Part 211). Braithwaite argues 2: “Waves,” by Astrid that the “disavowal” of Henry; “Besiegement,” the term [discipline] by Alison Piepmeier; has “too often been the “Community,” by Mar- refusal to be account- tha McCaughey. able for (or at least self-reflexive about) how the field is constructed Part 3, Episte- or what its structuring mologies Rethought, assumptions are, and begins with Vivian M. has left it ill-equipped to May on Intersectionality. May helps ful elements of this essay is that May articulate an intellectual, institutional, the reader understand the history of steps back and does not assume that and pedagogical project that isn’t intersectional thought in WGS and everyone understands intersectionality. simply the sum of all scholarly feminist discusses its current importance: “As an She writes, “Intersectionality calls for work” (p. 215). She succeeds at show- epistemological approach, intersection- analytic methods, modes of political ing how the arguments have developed

Page 20 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Professional Reading over time both for and against labeling feminists due to racialized insider/ Note WGS a discipline, and ultimately she outsider status, and argues that the argues for calling WGS a discipline problem of white women speaking for 1. Rosemarie Tong, ed., Feminist “precisely because of what that term all women “permeates the problem of Thought: A More Comprehensive In- can now open up for our shared (re) knowledge production in the field of troduction. (Boulder: Westview Press, thinking” (p. 223). Braithwaite’s WGS” (p. 297). Rowe concludes by 2013). essay is followed by “History,” by calling for women of color who occupy Wendy Kolmar; “Secularity,” by Karlyn outsider status to continue to critique [Glenda Jones is an associate professor of Crowley; and “Sexuality,” by Merri Lisa the white, heterosexual power structure English at the University of Wisconsin– Johnson. that benefits many white women in the Stout, and currently serves as director of academy (p. 308). Part 5 also includes the Women and Gender Studies Program Part 5, Establishments and Chal- the essays “Trans-,” by Bobby Noble; and as chair of the Chancellor’s Equity, lenges, contains a fascinating essay by and “Transnational,” by Laura Parisi. Diversity, and Inclusivity Coalition. She Aimee Carrillo Rowe on Institutional- teaches courses in undergraduate and ization. Rowe recounts several narra- The editors conclude the volume graduate writing and in women’s and tives of the institutionalization of WGS by noting how often the different gender studies. Much of her academic and the rise of white, heterosocial essay-chapters are in conversation with work is around the issues of diversity women who succeeded in the academy each other. The various authors don’t and inclusive excellence. She is an active due to a familiar familial-type relation- always agree about the meanings of researcher in the areas of high-impact ship with white male administrators. the key terms, but this kind of tension practices, minority retention, and infus- Rowe contends that the “rise in WGS is necessary for a thought-provoking ing diversity into the curriculum.] majors and the formation of doctoral conversation. I highly recommend programs provide the conditions for Rethinking Women and Gender Studies (some) academic feminists to secure as a companion to theoretical texts and not only shelter, but institutional as a guide that will continue to shape power as well” (p. 295). She also notes the future of the field. that there is a power imbalance among

Miriam Greenwald

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 21 Professional Reading

Creators, Guardians, and Consumers — Using Archives

by Jeanne Miller

Linda M. Morra & Jessica Schagerl, eds., BASEMENTS AND ATTICS, CLOSETS AND CYBERSPACE: EXPLORA- TIONS IN CANADIAN WOMEN’S ARCHIVES. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2012. (Life Writing Series.) 348p. index. $85.00, ISBN 978-1554586325.

I began reading this collection of using materials contained in blogs, conceptual one. Thus she situates Pazi- of essays through my lens as a librar- which are an unstable source and ra’s work within a Canadian “archive” ian with some professional experience include the comments of others besides of film, art, writing, and performance in archives management. I quickly the blog creator (Karis Shearer and Jes- related to the lives of Afghan-Canadian realized, however, that it was more sica Schagerl); and the complications women. pertinent to me as the author of an of trying to archive a feminist cabaret institutional history based primarily on event (T.L. Cowan). As Hannah Mc- I found Part II, “Restrictions,” archival research.1 Gregor demonstrates in her discussion probably the most useful section, While there are some discussions of Afghan-Canadian filmmaker Nelofer especially the chapters by Andrea in the volume of the archiving process, Pazira, “archive” can be used not to Beverley and by Catherine Hobbs. these essays mostly represent experienc- refer to an organized repository but a This grouping delves into some of the es and issues about archive most difficult concerns for usage by researchers, and, to archivists and researchers a lesser extent, about how alike. The archival collec- the producers of literature tions of living persons can and other forms of artistic only be seen as “complex expression determine where, sites of incompleteness and how, and when to donate regimentation,” according to their materials to an archive. Beverley (p. 165). Restric- It has much less to say to tions on access may involve professional archivists — in approval by the producer of fact, only two of the twenty- the materials. “Halted by four authors are archivists. the Archive: The Impact of The book is arranged Excessive Archival Restric- in three parts: “Reorienta- tions on Scholars,” by Ruth tions,” “Restrictions,” and Panofsky and Michael Moir, “Responsibilities.” However, offers a dialogue regard- it seemed to me that many ing the issue of access from of the chapters crossed these the point of view of the divisions and could easily researcher (Panofsky) and have been placed elsewhere. of the archivist (Moir). This There are multiple recurring meta-view of the archive, as themes, including What developed and maintained is an archive? Who owns or by the archivist and as used defines an archive? and How and interpreted by the shall researchers interact with researcher, nicely illustrates archives? the joint (and sometimes Part I, “Reorienta- competing) values imbued tions,” includes discussions to the archive. of using eBay as an archive Catherine Bates’s essay of cultural artifacts (Cecily (“’In the Hope of Making a Devereux); the challenges Connection,’”) from Part I,

Page 22 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Professional Reading

however, adds much to this discussion known. Paul Tiessen asks the question this book would, I think, have too in Part II. Bates challenges the belief more generally in “‘I want my story many barriers for generalized women’s that the archivist’s organization of told’: The Sheila Watson Archive, the literature courses, particularly at the materials is the “best,” and she explores Reader, and the Search for Voice,” as undergraduate level. how archives may present one story he investigates how the subjectivity of but ultimately produce another. Using the archivist, the researcher, or even the Graduate students, particularly two fictional accounts of working in donor can affect the archives. in research methods or advanced wom- archives, Bates illustrates the various Altogether, this collection is un- en’s studies courses, could find several interactions possible — including the even. Nearly all of the authors clearly of these essays useful. In particular, I possibility that researchers may relate share a theoretical perspective; and as a would recommend those by Bates, Bev- to the materials in ways that go beyond professional rather than an academic, erley, Hobbs, and Thieme. In addition, the boundaries of archivists’ expecta- I find the post-structural jargon to be the chapters dealing with archives that tions. almost impenetrable. However, given could be considered non-traditional that the most likely user of these essays (blogs, multiple collections of an Much of Part III, “Responsibili- is a researcher who might be immersed ethnic group, eBay, etc.) could be used ties,” focuses on questions of ethics and in that discourse, this should not be by academics and graduate students in bias — primarily on the part of the taken as a condemnation. related fields such as communication researcher, but also on the part of the arts, information, or cultural studies. creator and the archivist. Several chap- The editors were deliberate ters focus on ownership and privacy. about including essays from creative Note Archives that include letters to the writers in developing the collection. creator of the archive bring up ques- For example, Penn Kemp’s important 1. Jeanne E. Miller, A Matter of Fair- tions of who owns those letters and, question (in “Psyche and Her Helpers, ness: A History of the Center for the similarly, to what extent researchers can under Cloud Cover”) — “Can you Education of Women at the University of use materials that betray the privacy of archive creativity? Or only output?” Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI: University others. — provides the perspective of a poet/ of Michigan Bentley Historical Library Kathleen Venema explores this performer. Indeed, the inclusion of Bulletin no. 60, 2014). concern, along with the question of creators of archival materials, of archi- researcher and subject relationships, vists, and of researchers is one of the [Jeanne Miller recently retired from the in “‘You can do with this rambling strengths of this book. Center for the Education of Women whatever you want’: Scrutinizing Eth- It is important to note that despite at the University of Michigan, where ics in the Alzheimer’s Archives,” as she its subtitle — “Canadian Women’s she served as librarian and writer. Her writes about an archive of letters she Archives” — in reality this is a book more-than-thirty-year career as a librar- herself had written to her mother and about the archives of Canadian women ian included fifteen years collecting and some recently taped mother-daughter writers and creative artists. Little atten- managing information related to the conversations based on those letters. tion is paid to the archival collections education and career opportunities of Her mother now has an Alzheimer’s of, for example, political women, or adult women. In addition, she spent the diagnosis, which both informs and women’s organizations with their com- early years of her career processing the questions those current conversa- plex structures. Potential readers must archival collections of American leaders tions. In “Locking Up Letters,” Julia also be prepared for the completely in the field of gerontology. She holds an Creet recounts her dilemma of dealing Canadian examples and cross-refer- A.M.L.S. and an M.A. from the Univer- with her own mother’s papers, which ences. Although eminently useful in a sity of Michigan.] reveal family secrets not previously course on Canadian women’s literature,

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 23 E-Sources on Women & Gender Our website (http://womenst.library.wisc.edu/) includes recent editions of this column and links to complete back issues of Femi- nist Collections, plus many bibliographies, a database of women-focused videos, and links to hundreds of other websites by topic.

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Blogs ings, Teaching, and Broccoli,” at http://www.feministhulk. net/141-characters. AUTOSTRADDLE (http://www.autostraddle.com) — “an intelligent, hilarious & provocative voice and a progres- WOMEN WRITERS, WOMEN’S BOOKS, at http:// sively feminist online community for a new generation of booksbywomen.org, describes itself as an “online literary kickass lesbian, bisexual & otherwise inclined ladies (and magazine by and about contemporary women writers from their friends)” — offers “news, entertainment, opinion, around the world,” but does not appear to have num- community and girl-on-girl culture.” Among a number of bered or dated issues of publication; instead, it “publishes light-hearted articles currently featured are some hefty and new essays with an organic schedule based on readiness of serious ones, like “Clinical Trials on Trial: Medical Studies articles and editing resources,” in three categories: Writing, Still Exclude Women and People of Color to Dangerous De- Publishing, and Marketing. Some essays currently posted: gree,” by Laura Mandanas; and “Hauntings and Banishings: “The Effects of Hormones on the Creative Process: The Loss and Rage for a Queer Adoptee,” by July Westhale. Secret Ingredient,” by Sarita Fae Jarmack; “Why I Chose to Self-Publish,” by Jessica Markwell; and “Daunted by Book Because “feminists don’t talk enough about economics,” Promotion? Don’t Be,” by Caroline Sandon. The Nation magazine has launched a twice-monthly blog, THE CURVE (http://www.thenation.com/blogs/curve)— managed by editors Betsy Reed, Sarah Leonard, and Emily FreE-Books/Reports Douglas, and hosted by Kathleen Geier — “where feminists will hash out economic issues and intervene in feminist de- Breaking the Silence on Violence against bates from an economic perspective.” Each post is designed Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and as a roundtable, with input from “the many fine economists, Young Women: A call to action based on labor journalists, bloggers and academics already produc- an overview of existing evidence from ing tremendous work.” The Curve’s opening post, on June Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. UNI- 11, 2014, asked, “Does Feminism Have a Class Problem?” CEF, 2013. 75 pages. PDF in English at http://www.unfpa. and engaged economics professor Nancy Folbre, Center for org/public/home/publications/pid/14405. American Progress fellow Judith Warner, and Demos (public policy organization) president Heather McGhee in discus- Heather MacIntosh & Dan Shapiro, GENDER, CUL- sion about “Sandbergism,” capitalism, and more. TURE, RELIGION: TACKLING SOME DIFFICULT QUESTIONS. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Sheldon Chumir Have you encountered FEMINIST HULK lately? We first Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, 2012. 86 pages. “Deals mentioned the big, green, purple-shorts-wearing, Tweeting with the ethics of women’s equality with specific emphasis smasher of patriarchy in this column in 2010 (v. 31, no. 3). on flashpoints related to cultural and religious diversity. Hulk now has a blog as well, for thoughts that run longer The book addresses the oppression of Canadian women and than 140 characters, “written in the voice of Hulk’s literary girls carried out in the name of culture or religion and the life partner, Jessica.” See the July 8 post, “On Trigger Warn- need for public discussion of these difficult issues.” Print or

Page 24 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) E-Sources on Women & Gender download PDF (in English) from http://www.chumireth- promotion and protection of their rights.” Find out more icsfoundation.ca/gender-culture-and-religion-tackling- at http://gracamacheltrust.org. (Note: Graça Machel is some-difficult-questions/. Nelson Mandela’s widow. She stepped aside from her official period of mourning in May 2014 to speak out about the Two from Equality Now: PROTECTING THE GIRL kidnapped Nigerian girls.) CHILD: USING THE LAW TO END CHILD, EARLY AND FORCED MARRIAGE AND RELATED HUMAN HER ZIMBABWE (http://herzimbabwe.co.zw/): “Her RIGHTS VIOLATIONS (2014; 56 pages; 5.5 MB); and Voice. Her Revolution.” “Zimbabwe’s first women’s web- JOURNEY TO EQUALITY: 10 YEARS OF THE PRO- based platform promoting discussion, debate and conscious- TOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA ness building between women and men within Zimbabwe (2013; 162 pages; 3.1 MB). Both in PDF (in English) at and Zimbabwe’s vast diaspora. Founded in 2012, Her Zim- http://www.equalitynow.org/resources. babwe is helping to amplify the voices of women, in particular, by providing a space to interrogate popular and unpopu- World Association of Girl Guides & Girl Scouts/UN lar notions of a Zimbabwean, and feminine, identity.” Women, VOICES AGAINST VIOLENCE: A NON-FOR- MAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN The NATIONAL WOMEN’S COUNCIL (www.national- AND YOUTH TO HELP STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST womenscouncil.org), started in 2011 as part of the Nation- GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN. 2013. 124 pages. In al Diversity Council, “is a non-profit 501 (C)(3) organiza- PDF (in English) at http://www.unwomen.org/ru/digital- tion that seeks to provide a CollectiveVoice™ for women of library/publications/2013/10/voices-against-violence- all backgrounds, classes, and ages.” The Council’s motto: curriculum. “When women succeed, America succeeds.”

OUR BODIES, OURSELVES launched a redesigned and Organizations/Projects expanded website at www.ourbodiesourselves.org in July 2014. The new site still serves as a companion to — and ENERGIA: INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GEN- promotion for — the famous book that started it all; still DER AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY (www.energia. has a blog; and still provides news updates about health is- org) “is the international network on gender and sustain- sues. Entirely new is the “global projects” section, about the able energy, founded in 1996. We work in Africa and Asia initiative to help women everywhere create language- and through and with our regional and national gender and en- culture-specific OBOS projects in their own countries. In ergy networks. We work from the contention that projects, the Nigerian project, for instance (http://www.ourbodies- programmes and policies that explicitly address gender and ourselves.org/global-projects/nigeria-women-for-empow- energy issues will result in better outcomes, in terms of the erment-development-and-gender-reform/), it’s not a book sustainability of energy services as well as the human devel- being published, but posters, stickers, and other materials, opment opportunities available to women and men.” Ener- in both Yoruba and Pidgin English, that focus on safer sex, gia even offers an online course via Moodle: “The Gender sexual health, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, birth control, pregnan- Face of Energy” at http://www.moodle.energia.org. cy, infertility, and assisted reproduction.

“The Graça Machel Trust is a catalyst that works WOMEN’S KNOWLEDGE INTERNATIONAL (www. across the African continent on three issues: women’s rights; womensknowledge.org), co-directed by Margarita Benitez children’s rights; and democracy and governance. We sup- & Teresa Langle de Paz, aims to support “the recognition port local initiatives, connect people and groups that should and the global spread of women’s ways of knowing and be working together, and engage both publicly and behind the critical thinking on gender through educational initia- the scenes with power brokers to strengthen and amplify tives, so that the impact of this knowledge multiplies, and is the voices of African women and children. Our mission is incorporated productively and fully into cultures of peace.” twofold. Firstly, to foster and promote African women’s lead- The group’s collaborative activities include seminars, courses, ership and contributions in economic, political and social conferences, and research internships: “One of our priorities frameworks in national, pan-African, and international are- is to incorporate all forms of women’s experiential knowl- nas. Secondly, to improve the lives of children through the edge into formal education programs.”

Compiled by JoAnne Lehman

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 25 New Reference Works in Gender & Women’s Studies

Gender The scholarship in each entry Feminism provides a rich trail for tracking the Mary Evans & Carolyn Williams, eds., historical evolution of ideas, and the Jason L. Powell, ed., FEMINISM. GENDER: THE KEY CONCEPTS. volume’s extensive thirty-five-page New York: Nova Science Publishers New York: Routledge, 2013. (Rout- bibliography is itself a historical and Inc., 2013. (Social Perspectives in the ledge Key Guides.) 296p. bibl. index. contemporary reflection of the major 21st Century.) 73p. bibl. index. pap., pap., $36.95, ISBN 978-0415669627. ideas of feminist theorists, activists, and $52.00, ISBN 978-622575404. pedagogues who have contributed to Reviewed by Pamela Salela the evolution of ideas on gender. Rich Reviewed by Michelle Martinez as the scholarly trail is, however, it is Gender is now considered to be not always fresh. For instance, the most Jason Powell, editor of Nova’s as important as “class and race in the recent scholarship cited in the entry on series Social Perspectives in the 21st making and definition of individual cyberspace is from 2007. Cyberspace is Century, writes that the goal of the and collective circumstances” (p. xiii), an area of lightning-quick change, and works in the series is to “engage with and the growth of this field of study much has happened since 2007! conceptual development, historical for- has seen an accompanying evolution of Another drawback to this encyclo- mation, [and] contemporary relevance” intellectual vocabulary. This encyclo- pedic dictionary is that each entry was (preface). In its attempt to broadly pedic dictionary outlines the genesis limited to 2,500 words, with the result brushstroke feminist theories in five and usage of thirty-seven concepts, that ideas are sometimes so condensed brief chapters, however, the 73-page including agency, cyberspace, disabil- as to make them incomprehensible to Feminism volume loses nuance. ity, feminization of poverty, gender a novice; users would need some pre- Chapter 1, “Introduction on Fem- identity, intersectionality, LGBT poli- existing footing to make sense of this inism,” is more of an introduction to tics, new reproductive technologies, rapid-fire referencing of scholarship. Powell’s thoughts than an introduction transnational feminisms, and women’s/ This conceptual guide will be to feminism. All of feminist thought gender studies. Each entry includes a highly valuable to readers already throughout history, Powell claims, can valuable history of ideas and theoretical somewhat grounded in the scholarship be divided into three broad perspec- paradigms that have informed the evo- on gender. It is highly recommended tives: one that is “informed by liberal- lution of the concept. for graduate students and faculty as ism and individualism” (p. 1), a second The dictionary is interdisciplinary, well as independent scholars. that critiques gender bias, and a third with each entry crafted by a different that takes a postmodern approach. scholar. Most of the contributors have [Pamela M. Salela holds an M.A. in Chapter 2, “The Development of backgrounds in such disciplines as Educational Policy Studies as well as in Feminist Social Theory,” presupposes a literature, sociology, political theory, Library and Information Science from basic knowledge of social theory, as it gender studies, cultural studies, the- the University of Illinois at Urbana- launches into the failures of early social atre, women’s studies, economics, Champaign. She teaches in the Women & theorists Marx, Durkheim, and Weber. anthropology, family studies, philoso- Gender Studies Department at the Uni- This chapter does, however, make clear phy, medical sociology, development versity of Illinois at Springfield and will that social theory was incomplete and geography, and development studies. be teaching her new course, “The Politics inaccurate in its failure to account for With some notable exceptions — of Reproduction: Contested Wombs,” in women and to explain why women Sunni Madhok, Silvia Posocco, Nikita Fall 2014.] were unaccounted for by historical and Dhawan, and Sunila Abeysekera — contemporary models. Western scholarly perspectives seem to prevail.

Page 26 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) New Reference Works

Chapter 3, “Early Feminism,” Wives not about the women themselves, but focuses on Mary Wollstonecraft, but a about the men around them. When better chronology would start nearly a Janice E. McKenney, WOMEN OF details are given about the wives, they decade earlier with Jeremy Bentham. THE CONSTITUTION: WIVES often consist of generalizations and Furthermore, the list of feminist theo- OF THE SIGNERS. (“A project of speculations based on known circum- ries in this chapter, each with a mini- the District of Columbia Daughters of stances. But there are some exceptions. mal definition, is confusing, since these the American Revolution.”) Lanham, After Elizabeth Hamilton, for instance, theories are from feminism’s Second MD: Scarecrow/Rowman & Littlefield, was widowed in 1804, she wore black Wave. 2013. 241p. notes. bibl. index. $50.00, for the remaining fifty years of her life. Chapter 4, “Contemporary Femi- ISBN 978-0810884984. During that time, she helped found nism,” is stronger than the previous a private orphanage and served as its chapters. Nevertheless, this chapter will Reviewed by Alison M. Armstrong director. When she died, it was discov- be the most confusing to students new ered that as a sign of her loyalty to her to the subject, due to its jargon and “Loving wife and devoted mother” husband she had worn, as a necklace, a the quick assessments it offers on the (p.78) describes Elizabeth Schuyler little pouch containing a sonnet he had strengths and weaknesses of contempo- Hamilton (wife of Alexander), but written. rary theories. the same could easily be said about The lives of the men who signed The volume’s conclusion — a suc- most of the women featured in this the Constitution, of course, were cinct overview of feminism, feminist book, whose lives were notable pri- documented to a much greater degree social theory, and the debates within marily in the realm of the “domestic than their wives’ lives were. Thus, the feminism — would have served better arts.” Reading this book from cover to glimpses we get of the women are often as an introduction to the work. cover might prove tedious, but it may through the words of their husbands This book would have benefited provide useful bits of information for — in some cases documented in things from a timeline. In addition, names researchers. The notes and bibliogra- they wrote as they mourned their of important persons should be given phies, for instance, may prove to be wives’ deaths — or through the eyes in full, for the sake of readers who are good resources and are likely the most of family friends. Like the Daughters not already familiar with them. The valuable parts. The book also has a of the American Revolution, who are volume’s bibliography is extensive, and comprehensive index and an appendix defined by their positions in their fami- the index is somewhat useful, although of historic houses. lies, the wives of the signers are defined personal names are not included. Any Of the thirty-nine men who by their relationships with their hus- student new to feminism will become signed the U.S. Constitution, twenty- bands. lost in the theory and terminology with six were married at the time (1787). which they’re immediately confronted; Some never married, and some married [Alison M. Armstrong is the collection a glossary would be helpful. multiple times. Essays and informa- management librarian at Radford Uni- The scope and format of Feminism tion about forty-three of the wives are versity. She is the departmental liaison are appropriate for an introductory included here. The entries, in alpha- to Women’s Sudies and serves on the text, but the writing is more at the betical order by the women’s married Women’s Studies Committee. She is also graduate reading level. If this volume is names, each start with a listing of a member of ALA’s Women & Gender to be used in an undergraduate course, “vital statistics,” including birthdates, Studies Section.] it should be well-supplemented with birthplaces, names of parents, marriage lectures, other reading, and in-class dis- dates, number and names of children, cussion. Ultimately, the bibliography is and dates and places of death. The nar- the strongest and most valuable part of rative essays that follow, although not the book. lengthy and sometimes not linear, are helpful in fleshing out the bare facts [Michelle Martinez is the librarian for with some interesting details. Perhaps literature and art at Sam Houston State understandably, especially given the pe- University.] riod of history, many of the details are

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 27 New Reference Works

Women in the World Topical entries describe issues that many women have paid a high price affect women in this area of the world, for their activism. Feminists — or Ghada Talhami, HISTORICAL DIC- such as education of women and girls “reluctant” feminists under the current TIONARY OF WOMEN IN THE in different time periods and regions, understanding of the term — have MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH dowry and marriage differences, and served time in prison, or lost their lives, AFRICA. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow feminist movement variations by for their beliefs and their work toward Press, 2013. (Historical Dictionaries country. The entries frequently include gender equality and full citizenship for of Women in the World.) 405p. bibl. cross-references to related names or women in this area of the world. Many $100.00, ISBN 978-0810868588; e- topics. An index is not included, but of the well-known names here, such book, ISBN 978-0810870864. would have made the work more ac- as Shirin Ebadi, who was awarded the cessible. Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, and Golda Reviewed by Janet S. Fore The book includes an introduc- Myerson Meir, Israel’s first female tory essay and a chronology of events prime minister, can be found in other An excellent entry point for stu- that have affected women’s participa- sources; but this collection, which dents and researchers for the study of tion in the world — this timeline includes artists, poets, human rights the culture and history of women in extends from the Old Kingdom period activists, journalists, and wives of mon- this region, this book is the second title in Egypt, to 1894 (when the term archs, along with organizations and in Scarecrow’s Historical Dictionaries of “feminism is first used in Great Britain” centers devoted to women’s issues, is a Women in the World subseries. Its main (p.xxiii)), to the twenty-first century. unique reference work. body consists of 367 pages of short en- Events range from wars and revolutions Ghada Talhami is emerita profes- tries arranged alphabetically, describing to various dates when women were sor of politics at Lake Forest College women who have influenced the world first elected to government offices or and author of several books, including around them. Names were chosen granted the right to vote. An extensive Palestine and Egyptian National Identity from the ranks of the “powerful”: not bibliography introduces sources for and The Mobilization of Muslim Women just women who ruled (directly or in- further study, including books arranged in Egypt. directly), but also those who endowed by topic or time period, journals fo- charitable foundations and established cused on Middle East women’s topics, [Janet S. Fore is the library director at social movements or institutions, as films, and sources in Arabic. the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint well as those who, through art, singing, Whether struggling for feminist Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana.] and poetry, influenced rulers or incited reforms or creating their own defini- others to war. tions of modernized gender roles in their current nationalist movements,

Page 28 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Periodical Notes See our online quarterly, Feminist Periodicals: A Current Listing of Contents, to find out what’s being published regularly in more than 150 feminist journals in English: http://womenst.library.wisc. edu/publications/feminist-periodicals.html.

Newly Noted to those based at African universities” (international subscriptions available via EBSCO). AS/US: A SPACE FOR WOMEN OF THE WORLD. From the editorial in the first issue (2002), whose 2012— . Co-founders: Tanaya Winder (also Editor-in- theme was “Intellectual Politics”: “Feminist Africa responds Chief); Casandra Lopez (also Managing Editor); Christine to the heightened salience of gender in African political and Trudeau. 1/yr. Free access online at http://asusjournal. intellectual landscapes. It provides a forum for the intellec- org; print copies of numbered issues are also available for tual activism that has always been as intrinsic to feminism purchase at Amazon.com: list price is $10.00 for latest issue in Africa as to feminisms anywhere else. It provides the (no. 3, February 2014, 116p., ISBN 978-1495374029). first continental platform for reflecting on the accumulated Some supplemental issues, published online only: “V-Day wisdom which has matured in the cauldron of postcolonial Issue”; “Queer Issue.” gender contradictions.” From “Letter from the Editors” in Issue 1: “The seed Sampling of subsequent issue themes: “Changing for As/Us was planted in Boulder, Co while three Indig- Cultures” (no. 2, 2003); “National Politricks” (no. 3, 2004); enous women writers were discussing writing, the challenges “Sexual Cultures” (no. 5, 2005); “Rethinking Universities” of publishing, and the lack of diversity within the literary (nos. 8 & 9, 2007); “Land, Labour and Gendered Liveli- world. We came up with the idea of starting our own jour- hoods” (no. 12, 2009); “African Feminist Engagements with nal, specifically for Indigenous women. We became excited Film” (no. 16, 2012); “Researching Sexuality with Young about the possibility of publishing established writers, like Women: Southern Africa” (no. 17, 2012). Joy Harjo who are taught in classrooms alongside emerging Selected articles in the latest issue (no. 18, 2013, theme writers, some of whom have published, but have not yet “e-spaces : e-politics”): “Editorial: Feminist Engagements received much recognition. By bringing writers in differ- with 21st-Century Communications Technology,” by Jenni- ent stages of their careers together we were interested in the fer Radloff; “Disrupting Patriarchy: An Examination of the conversations that would arise between subject matter, craft Role of e-Technologies in Rural Kenya,” by Brenda Nyan- and aesthetics. We envisioned a space where readers could diko Sanya; “Digital as an Enabler: A Case Study of the find fiction, poetry, spoken word, and art in dialogue with Joburg Pride 2012 Clash,” by Nyx McLean; “Exploring New scholarly works, along with interviews from some of our Media Technologies Among Young South African Women,” contributors. We hope to continue the journal for many by Desiree Lewis, Tigist Shewarega Hussen, & Monique van years to come and want to seek out more international Vuuren; “Sinking into Oblivion? Ethnographic Insights into voices and youth features as well. the Place of Radio in the Lives of Women Living in a Rural “While Casandra and Tanaya were curating this issue Community in Zimbabwe,” by Selina Mudavanhu. their vision for As/Us expanded to include writers from other underrepresented communities. Just as we were able to WOMEN, GENDER, AND FAMILIES OF COLOR. see the intersections between the themes and subject matter 2013— . Editor: Jennifer F. Hamer. Host/Partner: Depart- of all of our contributors’ voices and experiences it is our ment of American Studies, University of Kansas. Publisher: hope that our readers will contemplate those connections as University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak Street, Champaign, well.” IL 61820-6903 (www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/wgfc). Fun fact: As/Us has been viewed in 149 countries so far! ISSN: 2326-0939 (print), 2326-0947 (online). Online access via JSTOR and MUSE. FEMINIST AFRICA. 2002— . Editor: Amina Mama. Jennifer Hamer explains in her editorial to the Publisher: African Gender Institute, University of Cape inaugural issue that Women, Gender, and Families of Color Town, South Africa (http://agi.ac.za/feminist-africa).ISSN: (WGFC) has roots in the earlier Black Women, Gender, and 1726-4596. 2/yr. Free online access; “hard copies available Families, published from 2006 to 2012 (also by University

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 29 Periodical Notes

of Illinois Press). WGFC, she writes, “broadens the mission Transitions of the earlier journal and explicitly emphasizes the diverse and similar experiences of black, Latino/a, Indigenous, and If you’ve been around long enough — and have been Asian American women and families, with gender serving reading this column in Feminist Collections long enough as a central analytical frame. Simultaneously, the journal — you may have seen our announcement of a then-brand- maintains a strong interest in examining social and eco- new newsletter, WOMEN IN HIGHER EDUCATION nomic policies and practices, and encourages transnational (WIHE), back in 1992. Even if you’re younger or newer to comparative analyses.” us than that, you’ve probably seen WIHE’s table of contents Feature articles in the most recent issue (v. 2, no. 1, reproduced regularly in our quarterly guide to feminist Spring 2014): “The Impact of Community Involvement, periodical publishing (called, aptly enough, Feminst Periodi- Religion, and Spirituality on Happiness and Health among a cals, or FP). WIHE founder Mary Dee Wenniger edited and National Sample of Black Lesbians,” by Juan Battle & Alfred published the newsletter right here in Madison, Wisconsin, DeFreece; “Doing What’s Right for the Baby: Parental Re- until earlier this year; that’s when she “passed the torch” sponses and Custodial Grandmothers’ Institutional Decision (her words) to publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (under its Making,” by LaShawnDa Pittman; “Masculinity, Religion, Jossey-Bass brand), and editor Liana Silva-Ford, and joined and Modernism: A Consideration of Benjamin Elijah Mays the ranks of the finally retired as she approached her seven- and Richard Wright,” by Randal Maurice Jelks; “That’s Not tieth birthday. Neither Silva-Ford nor the new publisher has Me I See on TV . . . : African American Youth Interpret missed a beat, thankfully: WIHE is still coming out regu- Media Images of Black Females,” by Valerie N. Adams-Bass, larly, and each issue’s table of contents still gets reproduced Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards, & Howard C. Stevenson. in FP. Find out all you need to know about subscribing at www.wihe.com; some articles are available there in full text as well. Special Issues/Themed Sections Compiled by JoAnne Lehman FREE INQUIRY v. 34, no. 1 (December 2013/Janu- ary 2014): Special section: “Highlights from ‘Women in Secularism 2.’” Publisher: Council for Secular Humanism, Buffalo, NY (http://www.secularhumanism.org/). ISSN: 0272-0701. Contents of section: “Women’s History: A Core Secular History,” by Susan Jacoby; “Feminism, Religion, and ‘Mat- tering,’” by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein; “Sexism and Religion: Can the Knot Be Untied?” by Katha Pollitt.

UTNE READER no. 180 (November–December 2013): Special section: “Women’s Work: Why the Personal is Still Political.” Publisher: Ogden Communications Inc., 1503 SW 42nd Street, Topeka, KS 66609 (www.utne.com). ISSN: 1544-2225. Contents of section: “A Day Without Care” (“What does it mean when ‘production’ isn’t the production of wid- gets, but care for the children, the ill, disabled, or elderly?”), by Sarah Jaffe (from Jacobin); “Sympathy for the Stay-at- Home Mom” (“Work, life, and the modern calendar”), by Judith Shulevitz (from The New Republic); “Know-It-All” (“Patriarchy, privilege, and work”), by Larisa Zehr (from Miriam Greenwald Geez).

Page 30 Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Items of Note AWAKE, by Ingrid Swanberg. Unpaginated volume of po- oriented institution that prides itself in its early etry published by Green Panda Press of Cleveland Heights, admission of women. It is the story of the means Ohio, 2014. Poet Swanberg (a.k.a. Markhardt) worked in through which women in the 1960s exercised their the UW Women’s Studies Librarian’s Office for many years, leadership abilities, initiative, and political savvy in and has also reviewed for Feminist Collections. a culture that devalued their contributions. It is the story of strong leaders who navigated the bureau- cracy and politics of a major research university. It is the story of a unit that was acutely attuned to prevailing campus issues, concerns, and interests and, in response, continually modified its initiatives, structures, and strategic priorities. And it is the story of a passion for women’s education, equity, and development manifested through dozens of staff members over the course of fifty years.

Author Jeanne Miller was the Center’s librarian and writer from 1998 to 2014. She is also a contributor to Feminist Collections! (See her latest contribution on pages 22–23 of this issue.)

OLIVE GRRRLS: ITALIAN NORTH AMERICAN WOM- EN AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY, by Lachrista Greco; foreword by Kym Ragusa. Published by Olive Grrrl Press in Madison, Wisconsin, 2013; available on Amazon Kindle. Lachrista Greco is the founder of the widely followed GUERRILA FEMINISM digital activist movement; she is also the new Office Operations Associate for the UW System’s Gender & Women’s Studies Librarian; and her review of Julia Serano’s EXCLUDED will be published in an upcoming issue of Feminist Collections. Kym Ragusa writes in the foreword to Olive Grrrls:

A matter of fairness: a history of the Greco and the other writers in Olive Grrrls remind center for the education of women at us that the “what are you” question is more than the university of michigan, by Jeanne E. Mill- just a cause for personal unease; it is a form of er. 78 pages. appendix. notes. Published by the University interrogation, and enactment of power that pro- of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, January 2014, as motes shame, enforces silence, and imposes real Bulletin no. 60. This is the “fiftieth-anniversary history” of limitations on the possibility of solidarity between an effort that began in the 1960s to help women enroll in women within Italian American communities and and complete a university education, thriving through many between these women and more explicitly mar- changes over the years as it evolved into a national model. ginalized groups. Olive Grrrls speaks back to the From the introduction: question: it is a call to “collect, name, and own” a more radicalized Italian diasporic identity — one The history of the University of Michigan Center that defies expectations and asserts complexity and for the Education of Women presents a fascinat- multiplicity, one capable of reaching beyond itself ing story that illuminates the changing roles of to join with others in larger collective struggles for women over the past half-century. It is the story of justice. the inherent contradictions found at a highly male- Compiled by JoAnne Lehman

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 31 Books & Videos Recently Received THE BARBARA JOHNSON READER: THE SURPRISE A FORCE SUCH AS THE WORLD HAS NEVER OF OTHERNESS. Johnson, Barbara, Feuerstein, Melissa, KNOWN: WOMEN CREATING CHANGE. Mijares, and others, eds. Duke University Press, 2014. Sharon G., and others, eds. Inanna, 2013. BEING AND BEING BOUGHT: PROSTITUTION, GENDER AND GLOBAL JUSTICE. Jaggar, Alison M, ed. SURROGACY AND THE SPLIT SELF. Ekman, Kajsa Polity; distr. Wiley, 2014. Ekis Cheadle, Suzanne Martin, trans. Spinifex (Austria); GENDER, CONFLICT AND PEACE IN KASHMIR: distr. Independent Publishers Group, 2013. INVISIBLE STAKEHOLDERS. Shekhawat, Seema. Cam- BEWARE THE MASHER: SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN bridge University Press, 2014. AMERICAN PUBLIC PLACES, 1880–1930. Segrave, GERMAN FEMINIST QUEER CRIME FICTION: POLI- Kerry. McFarland, 2014. TICS, JUSTICE AND DESIRE. Stewart, Faye. McFarland, BITTERSWEET JOKE (VIDEO). Yeonah, Paik. Icarus 2014. Films, 2011. GOD AND BLACKNESS: RACE, GENDER, AND THE BLACK BODY IN ECSTASY: READING RACE, IDENTITY IN A MIDDLE CLASS AFROCENTRIC READING PORNOGRAPHY. Nash, Jennifer C. Duke CHURCH. Abrams, Andrea C. New York University Press, University Press, 2014. 2014. BLACK WOMEN AS CUSTODIANS OF HISTORY: GRANDMOTHERS AT WORK: JUGGLING FAMILIES UNSUNG REBEL (M)OTHERS IN AFRICAN AMERI- AND JOBS. Meyer, Madonna. New York University Press, CAN AND AFRO-CUBAN WOMEN’S WRITING. 2014. Sanmartin, Paula. Cambria, 2014. HER HONOR: ROSALIE WAHL AND THE MINNE- CHANGING PLACES: FEMINIST ESSAYS ON EMPA- SOTA WOMEN’S MOVEMENT. Sturdevant, Lori. Min- THY AND RELOCATION. Burton, Valerie, and Guthrie, nesota Historical Society Press, 2014. Jean, eds. Inanna; distr. Brunswick, 2014. HOME, UPROOTED: ORAL HISTORIES OF INDIA’S COLLECTED WORKS OF ISABELLE EBERHARDT. PARTITION. Chawla, Devika. Fordham University Press, Delacour, Marie-Odile, and Huleu, Jean-René, eds. Marcus, 2014. Melissa, trans. University of Nebraska Press, 2014. INVISIBLE WOMEN OF PREHISTORY: THREE MIL- CONFESSIONS OF A BOOK BURNER: PERSONAL LION YEARS OF PEACE, SIX THOUSAND YEARS OF ESSAYS AND STORIES. Corpi, Lucha. Arte Público, WAR. Foster, Judy, with Derlet, Marlene. Spinifex (Austra- 2014. lia); distr. Independent Publisher Group, 2013. CONTEMPORARY CHICANA LITERATURE: (RE) LEAVING PROSTITUTION: GETTING OUT AND WRITING THE MATERNAL SCRIPT. Herrera, Cristina. STAYING OUT OF SEX WORK. Oselin, Sharon S. New Cambria, 2014. York University Press, 2014. DOMESTIC ABUSE IN THE NOVELS OF AFRICAN LIMEN. Susan Hawthorne. Spinifex (Australia), 2013. AMERICAN WOMEN. Humann, Heather. McFarland, LUPA AND LAMB. Hawthorne, Susan. Spinifex (Austra- 2014. lia), 2014. EMILY D. WEST AND THE “YELLOW ROSE OF THE MADWOMAN IN THE VOLVO: MY YEAR OF TEXAS” MYTH. Tucker, Phillip Thomas. Fwd. by Mario RAGING HORMONES. Loh, Sandra. Norton, 2014. Marcel Salas. McFarland, 2014. A MALE PRESIDENT FOR MOUNT HOLYOKE COL- FAT GAY MEN: GIRTH, MIRTH, AND THE POLITICS LEGE: THE FAILED FIGHT TO MAINTAIN FEMALE OF STIGMA. Whitsel, Jason. New York University Press, LEADERSHIP, 1934–1937. Meeropol, Ann Karus. McFar- 2014. land, 2014. FEMINISM AND POPULAR CULTURE: INVESTIGAT- MIN FAMI: ARAB FEMINIST REFLECTIONS ON IDE- ING THE POSTFEMINIST MYSTIQUE. Munford, NITY, SPACE, AND RESISTANCE. Malek, Ghadeer, and Rebecca, and Waters, Melanie. Fwd. by Imelda Whelehan. Moussa, Ghaida, eds. Inanna, 2014. Rutgers University Press, 2014. MISOGYNY RE-LOADED. Bray, Abigail. Spinifex (Austra- FEMINISM AS LIFE’S WORK: FOUR MODERN lia); distr. Independent Publishers Group, 2014. AMERICAN WOMEN THROUGH TWO WORLD MOON AT NINE. Ellis, Deborah. Pajama, 2014. WARS. Trigg, Mary K. Rutgers University Press, 2014. MY FIRST BOOKE OF MY LIFE. Thornton, Alice; ed. FEMINIST ACTIVISM, WOMEN’S RIGHTS, AND LE- by Anselment, Raymond A. University of Nebraska Press, GAL REFORM. Al-Sharmani, Mulki, ed. Zed, 2013. 2014.

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THE ONE-SEX BODY ON TRIAL: THE CLASSICAL TRANSLOCALITIES/TRANSLOCALIDADES: FEMI- AND EARLY MODERN EVIDENCE. King, Helen. Ash- NIST POLITICS OF TRANSLATION IN THE LATIN/A gate, 2013. AMÉRICAS. Alvarex, Sonia E., and others, eds. Duke OOKU: THE SECRET WORLD OF THE SHOGUN’S University Press, 2014. WOMEN. Seigle, Cecilia Segawa, and Chance, Linda H. THE TRUE MARY TODD LINCOLN: A BIOGRAPHY. Cambria, 2014. Ellison, Betty. McFarland, 2014. POLICEWOMEN: A HISTORY. Segrave, Kerry. McFar- [UN]FRAMING THE “BAD WOMAN”: SOR JUANA, land, 2014 (2nd ed.). MALINCHE, COYOLXAUHQUI AND OTHER REBELS PREGNANCY IN LITERATURE AND FILM. Boswell, WITH A CAUSE. Gaspar de Alba, Alicia. University of Parley Ann. McFarland, 2014. Texas Press, 2014. PRUDENCE CRANDALL’S LEGACY: THE FIGHT VOICING DEMANDS: FEMINIST ACTIVISM IN FOR EQUALITY IN THE 1830S, DRED SCOTT, AND TRANSITIONAL CONTEXTS. Nazneen, Sohela, and BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION. Williams Jr., Sultan, Maheen, eds. Zed; distr. Macmillan, 2014. Donald E. Wesleyan University Press, 2014. WAR IMAGERY IN WOMEN’S TEXTILES: AN IN- READING WOMEN’S WORLDS FROM CHRISTINE TERNATIONAL STUDY OF WEAVING, KNITTING, DE PIZAN TO DORIS LESSING: A GUIDE TO SIX SEWING, QUILTING, RUG MAKING, AND OTHER CENTURIES OF WOMEN WRITERS IMAGINING FABRIC ARTS. Deacon, Deborah A., and Calvin, Paula E. ROOMS OF THEIR OWN. Jansen, Sharon L. Palgrave McFarland, 2014. Macmillan, 2011. THE WINTER HORSES. Kerr, Philip. Random House/ REBECCA BROWN: LITERARY SUBVERSIONS OF Knopf, 2014. HOMONORMALIZATION. Xhonneux, Lies. Cambria, THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN AMERICA: 2014. A REASSESSMENT. McConnaughy, Corrine M. Cam- RECLAIMING THE FEMINIST VISION: CON- bridge University Press, 2013. SCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND SMALL GROUP PRAC- WOMEN ATTORNEYS AND THE CHANGING TICE. Freedman, Janet L. McFarland, 2014. WORKPLACE: HIGH HOPES, MIXED OUTCOMES. SURVIVING KATRINA: THE EXPERIENCES OF LOW- Kitzerow, Phyllis. First Forum/Lynne Reinner, 2014. INCOME AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN. Pardee, Jes- WOMEN IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD: TRANS- sica. First Forum/Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2014. FORMING EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT, DIVERSITY TEMPEST-TOSSED: THE SPIRIT OF ISABELLA AND PEACE. Miles, Angela, ed. Inanna; distr. Brunswick, BEECHER HOOKER. Campbell, Susan. Wesleyan Univer- 2013. sity Press, 2014. WOMEN IN “GAME OF THRONES”: POWER, CON- THE TOLERANCE TRAP: HOW GOD, GENES, FORMITY, AND RESISTANCE. Frankel, Valerie. McFar- AND GOOD INTENTIONS ARE SABATOGING GAY land, 2014. EQUALITY. Walters, Suzanna Danuta. New York Univer- WOMEN IN THE FILMS OF JOHN FORD. Mevel, sity Press, 2014. David. McFarland, 2014. TOWN OF LOVE. Ostby, Anne C. Ostby, Marie, trans. WOMEN OF THE NATION: BETWEEN BLACK PRO- Spinfex (Australia), 2013. TEST AND SUNNI ISLAM. Gibson, Dawn-Marie, and TRANS BODIES, TRANS SELVES: A RESOURCE FOR Karim, Jamillah. New York University Press, 2014. THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY. Erickson-Schroth, Laura, ed. Boylan, Jennifer F., intro. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Feminist Collections (v. 35, nos. 1–2, Winter–Spring 2014) Page 33

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