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Volume 30 Number 1 Winter 2009

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A Quarterly of Women’s Studies Resources

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ISSN: 0742-7441 © 2009 Regents of the University of Wisconsin System Feminist Collections A Quarterly of Women’s Studies Resources

Volume 30, Number 1, Winter 2009

CONTENTS

From the Editors ii

Book Reviews

What’s a Bright Feminist Like You Doing in a Genre Like This? 1 Reading Women’s Science Fiction by Helen Merrick I Promise I Won't Say “Herstory”: New Conversations among 7 Feminists by Jannelle Ruswick & Alycia Sellie Women and Water: Marginalization, Hope, and a Call to Action 12 by Anne Moser

Feminist Visions

HIV/AIDS in Women: A Disease Spread by Misogyny and 16 Violence by Karen Walloch

E-Sources on Women and Gender 20

New Reference Works in Women’s Studies 22

Periodical Notes 32

Items of Note 38

Books Recently Received 40

Subscription Form 41 From the Editors April 15, 2009. That picture on reading science fiction. Maybe it’s one Beginning on page 12, special the cover of this issue awakens a long- of the first times she’s ventured into librarian Anne Moser takes up a topic ing in me, especially on a beautiful such literature, and she’s glad she’s I have felt drawn to ever since I heard Wisconsin afternoon such as this, when done it. Vandana Shiva speak at an NWSA I’m scrambling to get FC and another I think I’ll follow her example conference a few years back: how a of our periodicals to press before a trip, and pack the short-story collection need so basic and universal as access figuring out the logistics of photocopy- Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science to water can be interwined with enor- ing and mailing tax returns before mid- Fiction in the Twentieth Century (one mous political power struggles and the night, realizing what a mess my house of the volumes Helen reviews on pages unequal treatment of women. Hmmm. is, knowing a massive grocery run must 1–6) in my luggage for my upcoming It might not be a relaxing read, but be done very soon, and wondering journey. This will be a working trip maybe I should take a look at Maude whether my partner and I can manage in many ways rather than a vacation, Barlow’s Blue Covenant sometime soon. to install new window blinds and bathe but I’ll have some time to sit around If I take it to the beach this summer, at the dog before I leave town. in an overstuffed chair now and then least there will be that water connec- That woman in the picture...You and just read. I might skip the critical tion. can tell she’s not even thinking about essays for now and simply enjoy the Medical and public health histo- taxes, work deadlines, or home im- stories, seeing for myself whether, as rian Karen Walloch, in our “Feminist provement projects. She is totally at Helen suggests, “there is...more to it af- Visions” column, reviews seven videos ease and at rest. Look at her! Curled ter all than geeky boys with ray guns.” about women and the HIV/AIDS up in a cozy nest of cushions, dressed Want to join me? pandemic. I’d like to point out that for the balmy weather, chin in hand, The other reviewers in this issue five of the seven films she discusses are brow unwrinkled, in a state of real also offer compelling invitations to available online for free, and are short relaxation, she is deeply engrossed in a contemplate fascinating topics, even enough to fit easily into class sessions. book. And you know it’s not a technical if what they’re reviewing isn’t fiction This is a serendipitous follow-up to manual, a reference text, or a feminist or pleasure reading/viewing by any Phyllis Holman Weisbard’s article in theory tome. She’s reading for pleasure, stretch. Alycia Sellie and her friend our last issue on finding good online for quiet inspiration, for the joy of en- and colleague Jannelle Ruswick, for videos for use in women’s studies. tering into another world on the page. instance, try out a collaborative review- Don’t miss our regular columns, Speaking of other worlds, perhaps ing approach in “I Promise I Won’t Say including reviews of new reference this woman — inspired by Helen ‘Herstory’: New Conversations among works about everything from abortion Merrick’s invitation in our lead article, Feminists,” which delves into recent to theater, transgender issues, Native “What’s a Bright Feminist Like You offerings from “next wave” feminists American women’s studies, and phi- Doing in a Genre Like This?” — is Jessica Valenti, Deborah Siegel, and losophy. And, say: after you look at Anita Harris. Their piece is fun to read: “Magazines for Tween Girls” (in “Pe- Jannelle and Alycia’s conversational riodical Notes”), will you let me know tone and format are accessible, and if you have any good tips for getting a their insights worth pondering. ten-year-old to reflect onwhy she likes what she likes to read? Or maybe I should just leave her alone and let her read for pleasure, for inspiration, for the joy of entering into another world on the page. Now there’s a thought. J.L.

Page ii Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews What’s a Bright Feminist Like You Doing in a Genre Like This? Reading Women’s Science Fiction

by Helen Merrick

Justine Larbalestier, ed., DAUGHTERS OF EARTH: FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2006. 424p. bibl. pap., $27.95, ISBN 978-0819566768.

Judith A. Little, ed., FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE FICTION: UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2007. 411p. bibl. index. pap., $27.98, ISBN 978-1591024149.

Joanna Russ, THE COUNTRY YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN: ESSAYS AND REVIEWS. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 2007. 288p. bibl. index. pap., $35.00, ISBN 978-0853238690.

Lisa Yaszek, GALACTIC SUBURBIA: RECOVERING WOMEN’S SCIENCE FICTION. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2008. 256p. bibl. pap., $22.95, ISBN 978-0814251645.

Marleen S. Barr, ed., AFRO-FUTURE FEMALES: BLACK WRITERS CHART SCIENCE FICTION’S NEWEST NEW- WAVE TRAJECTORY. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2008. 304p. bibl. $44.95, ISBN 978-0814210789.

I want to let you in on a little So why the roundabout Hilary Rose and Teresa de Lauretis secret. There is a hidden history introduction? Mainly because for most — have valued feminist SF as a unique of feminist activism, writing, feminists, SF is not seen as a likely and innovative forum for feminist consciousness-raising, and community. home for feminism. Recalling her time theorizing. The books under review Some claim Mary Shelley started it, working in a feminist bookshop in here give voice to the rich history of others that the foundations were laid the 1970s, writer and editor Susanna feminist experiment, revisioning, and in the nineteenth-century utopias Sturgis describes the reaction she activism that distinguishes feminist of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and received when encouraging feminists to engagement with SF. And for those of Mary Lane Bradley. Many date its read SF: you who have never read SF — and beginnings to escapees from 1930s even if you never will — don’t turn to and 1940s women’s magazines who Astonishing! Some people the next review just yet! Enjoyment wrote for garish pulp publications stared at me bewildered, as or knowledge of SF is not necessarily under ambiguous monikers such as if my English had become required in order to appreciate what C.L. Moore. Contemporaneous with incomprehensible. Others these books offer: a glimpse into a the women’s movement, it produced gazed with a complex mixture fascinating chapter of feminist history radical feminist visions that inspired of pity and contempt, or they that may well expand your view of intense political debate. Marge Piercy, murmured, “Oh, I don’t read feminist fiction, writing, and culture Angela Carter, and Margaret Atwood fantasy or science fiction.”1 more generally. have all flirted with it, although they This collection of texts signals haven’t always admitted it. I am talking Before you assume that readers somewhat of a renewal of academic about science fiction (SF) or, to be of feminist SF are indeed a rarity, if study of feminism and SF. With precise, feminist SF, the topic of the not an anachronism, let me assure scattered beginnings in the SF and books under review and a particular you that Sturgis and I are not alone. women’s movement magazines of the passion of mine. Other, more redoubtable critics than early seventies, a uniquely feminist I — including Donna Haraway, branch of SF criticism emerged in

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page  Book Reviews specialized SF journals of the 1980s, every decade from the twenties through first woman to publish a story in the with the first monograph appearing in to the present, except the 1940s. pulp magazines, Clare Winger Harris 1989, Sarah Lefanu’s In the Chinks of Larbalestier explains her desire “to find (1927), is included, as is “one of the the World Machine. There followed a a balance...between introducing people genre’s first female stars” (p.50), Leslie series of other studies and collections to long-out-of-print stories they would G. Stone (1931). Stone’s work often through the 1990s, peaking with never otherwise read and reprinting explored gender roles, no mean feat Jenny Wolmark’s Aliens and Others in for SF of the time, and also proof that 1996. Emerging somewhat later, and issues of gender and sex have in fact for the most part in isolation from been central in SF since the 1920s. academic literary criticism, feminist This collection also brings many SF criticism has been marked by its of the genre’s best critics together, particular (and peculiar) cultural including Veronica Hollinger, Wendy location. In addition to the familiar Pearson, Brian Attebery, and Jane challenges of developing within a male- Donawerth. Although it might be dominated tradition, feminist SF is over-reaching to claim it as a “complete doubly marginalized by its location in introduction to twentieth-century the culturally stigmatized arena of SF feminist science fiction” (p.xv), and its subjection to internal sexism this volume certainly does indicate and androcentrism arising from the the breadth of feminist concerns genre’s centralizing of technoscientific represented by feminist SF and its narratives. As in other areas, feminist criticism. The critical interplay between writers and fans were often berated for fiction and essay clearly shows why bringing didacticism and “politics” into SF has been attractive to writers and the boys’ playground, challenging their critics, as the works range over issues of visions of the future and their right to sex, gender, race, sexuality, successful control the narratives of science and matriarchies, critiques of domesticity, technology. and countless other feminist themes. better-known works that have never A key role of feminist SF been the subject of study” (p.xv). Highlights for me include criticism has been recovering herstory: Indeed, many of the stories here have Hollinger’s discussion of Gwyneth documenting the place of women had little, if any, scholarly attention to Jones (one of my favorite feminist writers in the field prior to the date, thus fulfilling her dual purpose. authors inside or outside the field, and influence of the women’s movement. As Larbalestier points out, not an insightful and deadly critic). Jones’s Because of the ephemeral nature every writer one would expect is story, “Balinese Dancer” (a companion and rarity of many of the early SF represented here — some central story to her 2004 novel, Life), is a magazine publications, stories by authors in the feminist SF canon thought experiment about sex and early women writers are difficult to are absent, including Joanna Russ, gender that also “directly addresses the find.2 Thus, short story collections Ursula le Guin, and Suzy McKee conflicted situation of contemporary have been vital in documenting and Charnas, although Russ and le Guin feminist politics” (p.333) as well as the preserving the history of feminist SF. have attracted significant critical “tangled complexities of the sex/gender Justine Larbalestier’s Daughters of Earth attention within the field. Other system” (pp.334–335). Pearson draws continues the tradition of anthologies central and key writers are present, on feminist and queer theory to read such as those by Pamela Sargent,3 with however, including James Tiptree, Jr. Tiptree’s “And I Awoke and Found the addition of critical essays reflecting (pseudonym of Alice Sheldon), Pamela Me Here on the Cold Hill Side” as on the fiction. Larbalestier invited Zoline (famous almost solely for the an analogy in which “the presumptive critics to choose one feminist SF story story in this collection, “The Heat male reader of science fiction” is put to write about; the result is eleven Death of the Universe”), Gwyneth “in the position of the abject, the alien paired stories and articles, covering Jones, and Octavia Butler, the pioneer dark; it makes him feel, in every iota of African American women’s SF.4 The of his being, what it is like to be on the other side of the gender divide”

Page  Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews

(p.185). Professor of Afro American animated by the trope of the “galactic one might like) to show how these Studies Andrea Hairston celebrates suburbia,” a term used by Joanna Russ women writers used SF to subvert the work of Octavia Butler and her to mock the kinds of social situations normative expectations about, for place in the history of black women’s imagined by many SF writers: “set in example, women’s domestic roles or high-tech, far futures where gender their combining of family and scientific relations still look suspiciously like work. those of ‘present-day, white middle- In one of its most fascinating class suburbia’” (pp.3–4; citing Russ).5 sections, Galactic Suburbia goes Russ argued that most women in the beyond the fiction writers to explore field at the time (1970) wrote this kind how women writing for the “science of fiction, or what she disparagingly fact” sections of SF magazines also referred to as “ladies’ magazine fiction.” used that venue to protest and subvert Yaszek rightly observes that Russ’s expectations about women’s ability purpose in distinguishing between (and — and desire — to claim a scientific judging) “different types of women’s role and voice for themselves. As Yaszek speculative fiction was key to the argues, such women were part of a project of defining feminist SF as an “centuries-old tradition of Anglophone emergent narrative tradition in its own women’s science popularization” right. But as artists and scholars turned who used this particular venue and their attention to this new narrative narrative “to authoritatively comment tradition, earlier women SF authors on a diverse range of scientific and were relegated to the margins of social topics” (pp.161, 165). Yaszek literary and cultural history” (p.4). demonstrates not just how the social Yaszek sets out to redress the history of the time informs and neglect of women writers such as contextualises the writings, but also writing and criticism; a champion of Judith Merril, Carol Emshwiller, and how women’s SF might throw light both feminism and SF writing in and Mildred Clingerman, who have to date on this period of women’s history — for the black community, Butler is, in received very little critical attention. In particularly around women’s perceived Hairston’s terms, a “prophetic artist… re-evaluating their work, she not only and actual relation to science and Rehearsing the possible in the face of “recovers women’s history” but also technology and the kinds of unique catastrophe, she calls us all to action” seeks to demonstrate the important authorial positions afforded by SF. (p.302). work these writers did in paving the way for later feminist work, in their Even as feminist SF criticism has If the scope of feminist SF’s provision of a “potent critical voice operated largely outside the purview history is signalled in Larbalestier’s about the relations of science, society of its more respectable literary sister, collection, its richness is detailed in and gender” (p.5). both reflect the particular biases of Lisa Yaszek’s Galactic Suburbia. Yaszek’s Yaszek’s readings are organized the Anglo-American critical tradition study of post-war women’s SF points around a number of themes, and she in their focus on white experience to an important new trajectory in includes chapters on “homemakers,” and writing. Afro-Future Females sets feminist SF criticism — the move “activists,” and “scientists,” each of out to redress the balance in SF by toward broader cultural examinations which begins with an overview of highlighting the writings of African cognizant of, for example, the histories the relevant broader history: the American women, in the process of science and technology as important development of homemaking in the also demonstrating how such writing contexts for studies of SF. In particular, Cold War era; women’s involvement challenges our notions of genre and Yaszek’s book does invaluable work in in peace activism and the Civil Rights literature. This collection is the third focusing on the decades of the forties movement; and, finally, women’s role in a sort of series by Marleen S. Barr, and fifties — an era often underplayed in science and technology in the post- who has been one of the pioneers and undervalued in SF criticism as war era. Yaszek draws on these histories well as in histories of feminism and the (which of necessity are slighter than women’s movement. Yaszek’s work is

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page  Book Reviews and staunchest advocates of feminist the book, and leaving me wondering SF criticism. Barr warns in her what kind of reader Little was aiming introduction that her approach and at. style may be challenging for some. For me, it is not the attempt to find a more One writer who never accessible critical voice that unnerves, underestimates her readers is Joanna but Barr’s strange juxtaposition of Russ. Even feminists who might texts (for example, where she uses Italo shudder at the very thought of SF are Calvino to illustrate the development likely to have at least heard of Russ — of black women’s SF) and her desire to if not for her revolutionary novel The claim a privileged space as midwife to Female Man, then at least for some of black women’s SF criticism. her groundbreaking literary criticism, Nevertheless, this collection such as “How to Suppress Women’s does invaluable work in showcasing Writing” and “What Can a Heroine the fictional and critical writings of Do? Or Why Women Can’t Write.” black women in SF and challenging The Country You Have Never Seen offers our understandings of the divisions a wide-ranging selection of Russ’s non- among SF, fantasy, magic realism, and fiction writing covering three decades. mainstream fiction in this writing. Much of the collection consists of book The regrettably short section of fiction reviews written from 1966 to 1981, nevertheless includes stories from and revising feminist SF’s history. In primarily for The Magazine of Fantasy black SF’s matriarch, Butler, as well contrast, Judith A. Little’s Feminist and Science Fiction, but also for other as some of the newer writers lighting Philosophy and Science Fiction presents publications such as The Village Voice up the genre: Nalo Hopkinson, a strangely static and stilted picture and The Washington Post. There are Nisi Shawl, Hairston, and Sheree R. of the genre. Intended as a textbook, also critical articles that have not been Thomas (editor of the pathbreaking Little’s volume includes many excellent anthologised elsewhere, including one Dark Matter collections of black SF). examples of classic and contemporary of the key documents in feminist SF Also vital are the critical articles that feminist SF, intended as exemplars that criticism, “The Image of Women in examine such newer writers in relation demonstrate some of the key questions Science Fiction.” Concluding the book to black women’s history and writing, occupying feminist philosophy. The are letters to a variety of publications rather than the usual concentration stories deliver in this regard, but the that represent a historical catalogue on the work of Butler and black SF commentaries do not. Framed by of feminist periodicals, from lesbian author and critic Samuel R. Delany. too many introductions to various and feminist journals such as Sinister Other pieces include author reflections, sections, Little’s editorial material Wisdom, Frontiers, and Chrysalis to responses, memorials to Butler, and spends too much time on Philosophy the more academic Signs and The a fabulous interview with Delany on 101, with a rather dated overview of Women’s Review of Books. These listings race, sex, sexuality, and power in SF. feminist philosophy (liberal, Marxist, alone indicate the variety of roles and I may quibble with Barr about her socialist, radical) appearing almost activities Russ has pursued throughout framing of this material, but I cannot as an afterthought. The fiction alone her career; only a closer reading, help but agree with her that black might be worth purchasing the book however, reveals the extent to which women’s SF challenges the ways “we for, although many of the stories her feminist politics are as evident read and define science fiction itself” are anthologised in other collections in reviewing for SF magazines as in (p.xv), and even that it is “the most that would provide a better sampling the more obvious sphere of feminist exciting literature of the twenty-first- of feminist SF, while the brief publications. century present” (p.xxi). extracts from novels are likely be Unlike most of the other books Afro-Future Females looks to the frustrating rather than revealing for reviewed here, the Russ collection future, as well as joining Larbalestier’s readers unaware of the originals. The provides a glimpse of the unique and Yaszek’s work in challenging discussion questions following each community around SF that made reading are often trite, adding little to possible the emergence and even nurturing of feminist writing and

Page  Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews activity. Although none of her letters the intelligence of their readers. actually start looking human. to fan publications are here, you Concluding a review of a particularly And for extra-terrestrials, do get glimpses of the committed poor first novel by John Boyd, Russ is invent. (p.149) communicator who attempted to clear about where the blame should lie: educate fellow (male) SF writers as And if this particular battle seems 6 much as feminist critics and readers. I forgive Mr Boyd the anguish quaintly dated, never fear, there are Russ was always ready to discomfit this novel caused me and hope unfortunately plenty of other cavils her (mostly male) readers, happily he will eventually forgive me here that remain all too pertinent announcing in a review for Fantasy and the anguish this review may today. Science Fiction, for example, that cause him, but for Berkley All who can in good conscience [the publisher] there is no call themselves feminist should really [t]he most exciting social forgiveness. Only reform. be familiar with Russ. If you haven’t extrapolation around Don’t do it again. (p.32) read The Female Man, then begin to nowadays can be found in The atone by reading The Country You Have Dialectic of Sex by Shulamith The novelist’s care for and Never Seen. (You’ll be safe — there is Firestone. You will have a attention to language shines no actual science fiction in it). But hard time with this book if through every critical judgement be warned: You may find yourself you believe that Capitalism and observation. To give just a brief wondering whether, if a writer so is God’s Way or that Manly sampling, here is Russ on SF in brilliant, radical, and complex is this Competition is the Law of the academe: “Science fiction is receiving passionate about SF, there is perhaps Universe — but then you can more academic attention than it used something more to it after all than go back to reading The Skylark to, a species of kindness that may geeky boys with ray guns. There’s only of Valeron or whatever and turn out to be the equivalent of being one way to find out … forget about the real future. nibbled to death by ducks” (p.68). On (pp.62–63) early Star Trek fan fiction: “a ten-year- Notes old’s toy rabbit made very carefully Russ’s talent as writer, critic, and with love and effort but a lot of the 1. Susanna J. Sturgis, “Notes of a Bor- activist is evident in every piece in this little wheels and things got left on der Crosser,” in Women of Other Worlds: book. Anyone who writes book reviews the kitchen table and when you try to Excursions through Science Fiction and or is interested in feminist history and make it stand up it collapses” (p.127). Feminism, eds. Helen Merrick & Tess politics will find something to delight, Behind the deadly humor is serious Williams (Perth, Western Australia: instruct, and amuse in Russ’s works intent and a passionate commitment University of Western Australia Press, — whether she is reviewing terrible, to feminist and queer politics and 1999), pp.103–114 (quotation is from unknown SF novels or writing letters activism. A recurring theme in Russ p.104). See also her article from which calling feminist critics to task for their is the need to challenge the gendered my title is borrowed: “Editorial Memo- (mis)understanding of the “Lesbian/ and heteronormative order that results ries and Visions, or Why Does a Bright Feminist Sex Wars” (p.297). The wit in the anomaly of the “female man.” Feminist Like You Read That Stuff and clarity with which she dissects In one review she rails against the use Anyway?” in Memories and Visions: the literary and ideological operations of male pronouns by authors such as Women’s Fantasy and Science Fiction, ed. of texts means that even reading le Guin in their attempts to depict Susana J. Sturgis (Freedom, CA: The thirty-year-old book reviews is both societies with different gendered Crossing Press, 1989), pp.1–9. pleasurable and instructive. (And what norms: other collection of book reviews would 2. Short stories are central to the make you laugh out loud?) Praise [S]urely science fiction genre’s history, as the short story and from Russ is hard-earned, although writers, of all people, ought novella forms were the mainstay of the dazzling when it is conferred: “The not to submit tamely to this genre before the advent of mass-market less I say about this story the less I will wholesale theft of pronominal paperback and book club publications. slobber over the page and make a nut normativeness. Bite your of myself” (p.8). She has no patience, tongue and write “she”; if you 3. Sargent edited a number of pioneer- however, with lazy writing or editing, look at it long enough, it will ing collections of women’s and femi- nor with books that underestimate

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page  Book Reviews nist SF in the 1970s, as well as two is never questioned…In short, Russ often contributed to feminist later collections in the 1990s; see her the American middle class fanzines and also spent considerable Women of Wonder (1975); More Women with a little window dressing. time trying to teach “Feminism 101” of Wonder (1976); The New Women through letters to non-feminist, of Wonder (1978); Women of Wonder: From “The Image of Women” in even sexist, fanzines. For more on The Classic Years (1996); and Women The Country You Have Never Seen Russ’s activities in these fields, as well of Wonder: The Contemporary Years (pp.206–207). This essay was origi- as studies of her fiction, see Farah (1996). nally published in 1970 in the feminist Mendlesohn, ed., On Joanna Russ journal The Red Clay Reader (not, as (Wesleyan University Press, 2009). 4. The black and feminist SF Yaszek states, in 1971). The essay was [Editors’ note: Madison, communities were shaken by Butler’s reprinted in Susan Koppelman Cornil- Wisconsin, where Feminist Collections untimely death in 2006; see http:// lon, ed., Images of Women in Fiction: is published, is home to the “world’s www.sfwa.org/members/butler/ Feminist Perspectives (Bowling Green, leading feminist science fiction OH: Bowling Green State University convention,” WisCon, each year. This 5. Strangely, nowhere does Yaszek Popular Press, 1972), and then in the year’s dates are May 22-25, at the quote the whole statement from which SF magazine Vertex in 1974. Concourse Hotel. See http://www. this term is taken, which I find as wiscon.info.] amusing as it is revealing: 6. The SF community is primarily animated by its “fans,” or committed [Helen Merrick teaches at Curtin [T]he authors who write rea- readers, who since the 1930s have University (Western Australia) and sonably sophisticated and corresponded through amateur is the author of The Secret Feminist literature science fiction…see publications called fanzines and get Cabal: A History of Science Fiction the relations between the sexes together at conventions along with Feminisms (forthcoming from Aqueduct as those of present-day, white, the writers, editors, publishers, and Press, 2009). Recent publications middleclass suburbia. Mum- even SF academics. This unusually include contributions to The Routledge my and Daddy may live inside interactive relation is one of the things Companion to Science Fiction (2009), a huge amoeba and Daddy’s that distinguishes the genre from On Joanna Russ (2009), and Queer job may be to test psychedelic other forms of literature. The 1970s Universes: Sexualities and Science drugs or cultivate yeast-vats, saw a growing group of feminist fans Fiction (2008). She is currently working but the world inside their producing feminist SF fanzines and on a co-authored book about Donna heads is the world of Westport fighting for women-only spaces and Haraway, to be published by Columbia and Rahway and that world feminist programming at conventions. University Press.]

Miriam Greenwald

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I Promise I Won’t Say “Herstory”: New Conversations among Feminists by Jannelle Ruswick & Alycia Sellie

Jessica Valenti, FULL FRONTAL FEMINISM: A YOUNG WOMAN’S GUIDE TO WHY FEMINISM MATTERS. Berkeley, CA: Seal, 2007. 271p. pap., $15.95, ISBN 978-1580052016.

Deborah Siegel, SISTERHOOD, INTERRUPTED: FROM RADICAL WOMEN TO GRRLS GONE WILD. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. 224p. bibl. index. pap., $14.95, ISBN 978-1403982049.

Anita Harris, ed., NEXT WAVE CULTURES: FEMINISM, SUBCULTURES, ACTIVISM. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2008. 283p. bibl. index. pap., $34.95, ISBN 978-0415957106.

[We] decided to write a paper in conversation with each other. — Chilla Burlbeck & Anita Harris, Next Wave Cultures, p.221

In the introduction to “Femi- debates that are presented in the works rounding girls who have “gone wild.” nism, Youth Politics and Generational reviewed here. What follows is excerpt- However, in an interview on Alternet. Change,” their chapter in Next Wave ed from our conversations. org, Valenti stated, “It was a book I Cultures, Chilla Burlbeck and Anita wish I had when I was in high school.”1 Harris discuss their individual inter- Full Frontal Feminism: A Young The book seems to have been written pretations of “data sets” about young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Mat- for urban, sarcastic, and witty female women, using their own geographic, ters sells itself as a primer on feminism, adolescents — women who are teen- cultural, and theoretical frameworks. discussing topics deemed pertinent aged Valenti clones. The consequence Discovering their collaborative man- to Generation Y. The book has two of such a limited audience is that wom- ner of writing was delightful for us as objectives: to get young women to en who do not fit this demographic are we began our process of reading and embrace feminism as a hip movement likely to be turned off by the sex and reflecting forFeminist Collections. Al- vital to their wellbeing and to provide beer talk. I say this as a woman who though we aren’t sure how Harris and a refresher course for out-of-the-closet grew up in the Midwest; the frequent Burlbeck communicated, our corre- feminists. mentions of getting drunk and having spondence was dictated by geography. Alycia: I enjoyed reading Full sex would have scared me as a teen. I Separated by hundreds of miles, we Frontal Feminism on the train. It was wonder if reading this in high school corresponded by email and discussed easy to put down and pick up again, would have turned me off from my these works in real time via instant and I flew through it. Overall, the tone emerging feminism. messaging. As reviewers, we share of the work felt like an informal con- Alycia: I think I would have been many commonalities. We are both aca- versation with a cool older sister who intrigued but intimidated to read demic librarians. We’re twenty-seven was trying to convince you why it’s Full Frontal Feminism as a teenager. years old. We are from the Midwest. important to be a feminist. Valenti puts a lot of personal beliefs Perhaps most importantly, we identify Jannelle: Full Frontal Feminism into the book, and this could be a as feminists. was a pleasant read, but I had difficulty turn-off for some, as much as it may In spite of our similarities, we determining the audience. At first I make it voyeuristically interesting for hope that our conversation will pres- thought the book was for college-aged others. I think this book was written ent varied reactions to the works that women, because in Chapter 2, Valenti as an expression of Valenti’s personal we have both read. We also hope that argues that it is “O.K.” to have consen- experiences as a feminist rather than of as young feminists, we can present a sual inebriated sex as long as the reader the totality of women’s experiences of perspective that is sometimes missing is aware of the myriad of issues sur- in discussions about the generational

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page  Book Reviews feminism. While I read, I kept ques- she says, “Clearly, this case is fucked Jannelle: I didn’t intend to ap- tioning whether Valenti was making up in a thousand ways” (p. 29). I proach it as if I were reading a blog, space for others, where I fit into her know the ways in which the example is but in the end I felt the book was more conception of feminism, and whether “fucked up,” but will a young woman of a “Best of Feministing” anthol- young women would be able to relate new to feminism? The “Um, no” and ogy than a full book. What worries to this presented perspective. I’m not “Just saying” conclusions got tiring and me about the lack of depth is that sure I have many conclusions, but I felt like excuses to avoid explanation. when Valenti does provide analysis, think Valenti realizes that feminism can Alycia: These phrases, plus the the research is shoddy. For example, be intimidating to the audience she is swearing in some areas and the fake she quotes the famous Joycelyn Elders writing for (closeted feminists), and so swearing in others (“friggin”), as well statement about masturbation be- she is using herself as an example of a as the lack of depth, were problems ing a topic for sex education. When healthy, happy feminist. for me personally as a reader, but I I checked the notes for the chapter, I Jannelle: To give Valenti credit, also recognized immediately that I discovered that she used the website she repeatedly emphasizes that Rotten.com as her source. This most of the things she says in her particular quote may be accurate book are her personal feelings, and despite the unreliable source, but that the reader needs to determine it left me worried that Valenti her own opinions on the subject. wasn’t exercising due diligence in I wish Valenti (or the publishers) her research. A teen may not care would have marketed the book to do further research, but I think differently; perhaps as a memoir authors have an obligation to pro- of a young feminist instead of as a vide verifiable information from “Feminism 101” guide. reliable sources. Alycia: I couldn’t agree more Alycia: The tone of Valenti’s about the framing of the work. writing is most successful in the Full Frontal Feminism is a great last chapter of the book (“Get to representation of what Valenti is It”), where readers are invited to experiencing as a feminist writer get involved by listing feminist today, but the book does not pres- goals that are simple to accom- ent a comprehensive history of plish. Her examples are brash, and feminism by any means. She leans laden with her own personality, to the left, and so the book does and yet still do-it-yourself: “Don’t too; for instance, she lists “Don’t diet. Fuck them and their bullshit have sex with Republicans” (p.30) beauty standards. Eating can be as a personal rule in Chapter 2, a powerful act when the world “Feminists Do It Better (and wants you to disappear” (p.244). Other Sex Tips).” Although other I like the participatory aspects of topics are highlighted (reproduc- the book that invite ladies in, and tive rights, relationships, politics, the fact that the end of the work and pop culture are a few), I think Val- was not the intended audience for the doesn’t leave a hole that merely makes enti frames all issues within the scope book. The writing was definitely remi- us ask Where do we go next? without of- of identity politics. niscent of a mainstream magazine or fering any suggestions. Valenti is great Jannelle: I found her writing lack- news article and lacking in thorough at making readers realize that feminism ing in analysis. If one of the goals of research. I was also aware that Valenti is what they will make of it. the book is to educate young women co-founded and writes for the popular Following this, I was left wonder- about “why feminism matters” (sub- feminist blog Feministing.com. Thus, I ing whether Full Frontal Feminism will title), I’d expect to see a more thorough think that on some level I approached be effective at convincing young people examination of issues. For example, in this book as if I were reading a series that identifying as feminists is impor- a paragraph about statutory rape charg- of blog entries, so I wasn’t surprised by tant. In this book, Valenti is the cool, es in Nebraska that were avoided by the tone of the writing or its random- swearing older sister trying to convince the couple getting married in Kansas, ness.

Page  Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews you why you need to join the club and I had the opportunity to hear feminists. Despite being a book essen- pay attention. But will it work? Deborah Siegel talk at the “Women, tially about feminist infighting, it was Jannelle: I think that if a teen Action and the Media” conference in surprising how inspired I felt by read- loves her swearing older sister, then yes. Boston last year, where she led a panel ing this history, and how connected I However, I do not believe that is the of feminist writers who all shared tips felt to many of the differing struggles. subset of teens that needs convincing about publishing. Siegel stressed that I also appreciate that Seigel includes that feminism is cool. As an academic it is possible to be an academic and to discussions (although limited) of race, librarian, I would recommend this publish well-researched books that can class, and orientation. book to my students with some hesita- reach a general audience. I think this The only criticism that I have is tion. I think there are better-written framework is at the heart of Sisterhood that I think there could have been and better-researched books available Interrupted. more written about the fringes of Third for young budding feminists to read. Jannelle: I also enjoyed Sisterhood Wave feminism in the “Daughters” Valenti has said she didn’t want a wom- Interrupted. I have a women’s studies section — more about the riot grrrl, en’s symbol on the cover because, “let’s background, but this book contained GLBT, and trans issues that I see at the face it, no young woman is going to information I did not have, specifically core of the Third Wave. I felt that the pick up a book with the woman’s sym- the history of the formation of groups first section did deal with more radical bol with a fist on it.”2 It is ironic that such as NOW. While the book may be groups within the Second Wave, but Sisterhood Interrupted has two women’s advanced reading for a teen, the writ- such coverage decreased as the book symbols on the cover, yet it achieves ing is totally accessible to college-aged progressed chronologically. I thought Valenti’s goals more successfully than students and older. In an interview on that the depiction of the Third Wave Full Frontal Feminism does. Alternet.com, Siegel said, “I wrote the was more mainstream than I know it book I wanted my younger cousin, my to be, but then again, that could reflect In Sisterhood Interrupted, Debo- mother, and my great aunt to read: my own experience. rah Siegel describes the conflicts and a road map to the feminist past for a Jannelle: I finishedSisterhood conversations that have challenged and younger generation and a guidebook to Interrupted feeling a stronger connec- divided feminists from the 1960s to the present for women who have been tion to the women who came before today. Her book has two sections: the calling for change for years.”4 I ap- me. I liked that Siegel showed how the first, labeled “Mothers,” tells stories of preciate that she was aware of her women battling sexism and patriar- audience and wrote accordingly. I chy in the Second Wave; the second, also think this book fills a gap in “Daughters,” talks about the genera- feminist literature. I haven’t seen tions after the Second Wave and the such an accessible book discussing women who struggle to convince their feminist infighting before. peers that there are continuing reasons Alycia: Siegel explains how why feminism is important and that a controversial topic will divide, there is still a need to fight for equality. shift, and alter feminist circles. Alycia: I really enjoyed Sisterhood There are a few chapters that fo- Interrupted. I was amazed by the radi- cus on specific feminists (Gloria calism of Second Wave feminist history Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Katie and by how much I learned from this Roiphe, among others), but I never book. Siegel has said that she “read felt that there were sets of rival- scads of manifestos, memos, letters, rous individuals or groups whose memoirs, magazine issues, archives, conflicts lasted throughout the news reports, bestselling books, anthol- whole book or the whole historical ogies and pretty much every written period; the characters fluctuated source I could get hold of to examine and evolved with the changes of what those women most invested in the eras. Siegel writes about the defining feminism in the public eye root causes and beliefs that led to have argued and argued about across the formations of separate groups, the decades.”3 all of whom were all working as

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page  Book Reviews slogan “The personal is the political” view teenage women about their at- My favorite was “Connecting the Dots: continues to have meaning for women titudes and beliefs about sex, and “The Riot Grrrls, Ladyfests and the Interna- of all ages, races, and classes. Not only Empowered Fe-Fe’s.” The Fe-Fes are a tional Grrrl Zine Network,” by Kristen did the book make me feel more con- group of differently abled, low-income Schilt and Elke Zobl, which presented nected to older women; it made me teenage women of color in Chicago a side of Third Wave feminism that I feel connected to women my age who who have been empowered to create had felt was missing from the other are living a different experience than films about their lives. two works (the more punk, riot grrrl, I am. I think Siegel was successful in Alycia: The pieces inNext Wave do-it-yourself side). portraying the beginning of the Third Cultures are a fusion of Women’s Finally, another topic stressed Wave as a “swirl of intense, ironic, and Studies and Subculture Studies — a in Harris’s introduction was the idea often painful contradictions around field I hadn’t heard of before read- — or the fear — that today’s younger issues of progress, promotion, and ing this book. In her introduction, women are less politically engaged as power” (p.139). However, I’d agree Harris explains that there has been a a group than young women were in that she largely ignored the fringe void in the area of Subculture Studies, the past. Harris addresses the shared (which I would argue is the core of wherein gender was not specifically or worry among older generations about the forward movement of the Third intentionally addressed. This book is the future of feminism, based on the Wave), but I don’t think describing perceived lethargy of younger genera- the fringe was her objective. I also tions. I found that this worry over the don’t think she would have been lack of engagement, and the desire to able to address it within this book shape new feminisms to come, was to our satisfaction if she had tried. what united the three works we read; I feel like this book exists to break these issues were explored in a variety down walls among all women, not of ways in Next Wave Cultures as well as to define who those women are. in Sisterhood Interrupted and Full Fron- I am really glad I read Sisterhood tal Feminism. Interrupted before I read Next Wave Jannelle: I think that is the over- Cultures. arching theme of the three books: exploring the myth that young women Next Wave Cultures picks are not engaged. Next Wave Cultures up where Sisterhood Interrupted was able to debunk the myth both ends by detailing current attitudes, anecdotally and empirically. Of all activities, identities, and goals of the books, Next Wave Cultures was the women living within subcultures of must successful at highlighting the the Third Wave movement. Edited “others” that the first two books largely by Anita Harris, Next Wave Cul- ignored. tures is divided into three sections: Alycia: After having read these “Infiltrating Masculine Domains,” three works as a team and discussed “Creating Spaces,” and “New Ac- them here, we are happy to report that tivisms.” we have not created another feminist Jannelle: Next Wave Cultures infight for Deborah Siegel’s next book. was written with an academic audi- attempting to fill that void, and many Jannelle and I have largely agreed in ence in mind, and as a result it can be of the studies spoke to the emerging reaction to the works presented above, a bit drier than the works of Siegel and crossover in the fields. and similarly struggled with or clearly Valenti. The book has a good mix of The research compiled inNext defined the audience we felt would be empirical studies and personal stories. Wave Cultures covers topics that neither appropriate readers for these works. I liked both styles, and I thought the of the other books would have had the After I had finished reading these book balanced the two well. Highlights opportunity to cover: topics outside books, but before our discussions com- include “Rescuing a Theory of Ado- of mainstream feminist history, such menced, I happened to read a stunning lescent Excess,” in which authors Sara as female surfers, Gangstressism, girls portrayal of this moment in feminist McClelland and Michelle Fine inter- with disabilities, and culture jamming. history. I felt it really expressed where

Page 10 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews we are right now in the crossroads of that so many other women are willing We hope more books by young women where we have been and what is to to share the struggles and their histories will be published that reach as broad a come. In the “Letter from the Editors” with me. spectrum of women as these three do. introduction to Make/Shift magazine, Jannelle: I work with young Issue 4, Jessica Hoffman and Daria women every day at my university. Notes Yudacufski present a struggle.5 They These women are aspiring mathemati- discuss what it means to be publishing cians, engineers, biologists, and chem- 1. Laura Barcella, “Full Frontal Femi- a magazine with the word feminism on ists, pursuing careers that desperately nism,” an interview with Jessica Val- the cover when women of color in the need strong women to fight for pay enti, on Alternet.org, posted April 24, feminist blogosphere have condemned equity and against discrimination. 2007; http://www.alternet.org/sto- feminism as exclusively white and Without books speaking directly to ry/50843/ (accessed 01/23/2009). middle-class. They discuss the conver- young women about feminism, we sations they have had among them- may see that the Generation Y women 2. Emma Pearse, “Riot in her Head: selves as media contributors on the believe that feminism ended with the Jessica Valenti,” in New York Magazine, subject, and they are very clear that not mythical bra burnings. Each of the April 29, 2007; http://nymag.com/ everyone on their staff is in agreement three books we reviewed has a place in arts/books/features/31256/ (accessed on any segment of what is happening empowering Generation Y women to 01/23/2009). now or what has happened. What they become Generation Y feminists. Full convey most clearly is that they are not Frontal Feminism, despite its hiccups, 3. Celina, “Deborah Siegel: Sisterhood sure what will happen next — for their serves as a witty personal experience Interrupted,” on Feministing.com, magazine; for their sisters of color; for with feminism to get a young woman’s posted June 30, 2007; http://www. feminism. feet wet. Sisterhood Interrupted pro- feministing.com/archives/007289. What was most important to me vides pro-feminism women who may html (accessed 01/19/2009). in that piece was the conversation that not have an academic background in was held inside of it. I am very pained women’s studies with an easy-to-read, 4. Courtney E. Martin, “Why Femi- about the strife that currently exists concise history of the feminist move- nists Fight with Each Other,” on Alter- within the movement, and about the ment and commentary on the future of net.org, posted June 12, 2007; http:// idea that feminism might be something feminism. Finally, Next Wave Cultures www.alternet.org/story/53844/ (ac- that is obtainable or identifiable only brings the discussion of women’s every- cessed 01/23/2009). for some. I am happy that they have day activism into the scholarly realm, recorded this moment so plainly in its with studies and stories showing that 5. Jessica Hoffmann & Daria Yudacuf- confusion, its discord, and its hope for young women continue to believe that ski, “Letter from the Editors,” in Make/ solidarity. the personal is political and are on the Shift no.4 (Fall/Winter 2008/2009), As I reviewed these works, this streets working for change. p.5. piece by Hoffmann and Yudacufski Having the chance to read and stuck in my mind, and I thought about review these books with Alycia rein- [Jannelle Ruswick is the psychology and how this conversation, happening af- vigorated my feminism. It’s easy to get social sciences librarian and instruction ter these three books were published, wrapped up in day-to-day functions coordinator for the Illinois Institute of may frame the next wave of books to and lose track of current feminist ac- Technology. She is also an adjunct faculty be written about feminism. I am very tions that I can get involved in or that member in the Humanities Department, glad that each of the books reviewed I can create. Anytime I read a book by where she teaches a course on autobiog- here has been able to record a moment a young feminist, I feel a renewed sense raphies. Alycia Sellie lives in Brooklyn, in time and a perception of feminism. of empowerment and strength to chal- where she is the public services coordina- I am certain that younger women will lenge and change the world. The con- tor at Pratt Institute. She likes to knit think about these topics in ways that versations I had with Alycia to write and bike, and she plans to help organize will seem wholly foreign to me, but I this piece will not end here. They rep- a zine fest in New York in the next year.] know that what unites all of us is the resent just a moment in our continuing conversation. I am happy to have a dialogue over the past several years, and friend and colleague like Jannelle to they will shape our future conversa- talk with, and as I aim to assess my role tions as well as our roles in feminism. in feminisms of the future, I am glad

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 11 Book Reviews

Women and Water: Marginalization, Hope, and a Call to Action by Anne Moser

Anne Coles & Tina Wallace, eds., GENDER, WATER AND DEVELOPMENT. New York: Berg Publishers, 2005. (Cross- cultural perspectives on women.) 252p. bibl. index. pap., $36.95, ISBN 978-1845201258.

Vivienne Bennett, Sonia Dávila-Poblete, & María Nieves Rico, eds., OPPOSING CURRENTS: THE POLITICS OF WATER AND GENDER IN LATIN AMERICA. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. (Pitt Latin- American studies.) 262p. bibl. index. $27.95, ISBN 978-0822958543.

Maude Barlow, BLUE COVENANT: THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS AND THE COMING BATTLE FOR THE RIGHT TO WATER. New York: The New Press, 2007; distrib. by W.W. Norton, 2008. 208p. bibl. index. $24.95, ISBN 978-1595581860; pap., $16.95, 978-1595584533.

In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference. — Rachel Carson Women play a central role in the provision, management, and safeguarding of water. — Principle 3 from the 1992 Dublin Conference on Water and the Environment

A young girl spends hours each of all world citizens have access to quite different in their approaches, all day gathering water from the local river piped water; in Africa, it’s a dismal three volumes will be useful to a variety — instead of attending school with her four percent. As potable water sup- of audiences studying environmental brothers. Her mother runs the family plies dwindle because of pollution, justice, water resource management, farm, but lacks the social status to ob- encroaching urbanization, and an ever- and the threat of privatization of water tain the water she needs for irrigation. increasing world population, control supplies. Her neighbor, dehydrated by the symp- of water has become a political issue toms of HIV/AIDS, cannot find the — and women are rarely included in Gender, Water and Development drinking water to prolong her life. the dialogue. analyzes current attempts to provide At first glance, women and water Each of the three books reviewed increased water access in developing may not appear to be natural part- here presents the challenges of water re- countries, showing that they often ners in gender study, but the rights of source management in its own light. In fail to account for the gendered and women in developing countries are Gender, Water and Development, Anne societal nature of water resource avail- intimately paired with the right of Coles and Tina Wallace effectively ar- ability. It also details how inclusion of access to water. Water plays a central gue that any project relating to water gender and society leads to successful role in the lives of these women, who, must include a gendered approach in projects. Without understanding the along with their children, most often planning and execution. In Opposing effect of gender and society norms on bear the daily burden of fetching the Currents: The Politics of Water and Gen- water, the specific goal of “water for household’s water supply. Many walk der in Latin America, the editors trace all” is unattainable (p. 2). miles and then stand in line for wa- water development projects throughout Nepal is a good example of a ter. Household management of water Latin America and highlight success country in which gender and poverty becomes a “labor-intensive, physically stories in a region of the world not are key factors in water resource man- demanding, and even stressful part known for its progressive approach to agement. Safe drinking water is still of everyday life” (Opposing Currents, women’s issues. And in Blue Covenant: scarce in parts of the country, the pro- p.17). the Global Water Crisis and the Coming curement of water is disproportionately In the developing world, more Battle for the Right to Water, the author borne by women and girls, and con- than 1.1 billion people lack an ad- declares that water must be a human tamination is a real threat. In addition, equate water supply. Only fifty percent right, not a commodity. Although the embedded caste system of Nepali

Page 12 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews society defines where water is one of the three disciplines. available for which social class. This book could be particularly In principle, those trying to useful in facilitating discussions help the needy in Nepal — in gender studies classes on government, aid groups, and development, natural resource donors — have acknowledged management, or the intersec- the importance of including tion of science, public policy, those who are directly affected and culture. by the problems of water ac- cess when solutions are being The editors of Opposing discussed. Unfortunately, Currents: The Politics of Water although women may be and Gender in Latin America included in the project imple- also explore the effects of gen- mentation phase, they are very der on water usage and policy. rarely asked to participate in The background and case stud- project planning and design. ies presented in this volume The authors detail a success strongly support the thesis that story in which participation although women have been by women and the poor in all recognized as central players in levels of a project (as part of worldwide water management, a “gender and poverty main- their expertise and knowledge streaming” program at the have only recently and partially nongovernmental organization been included in the actual de- Nepal Water for Health), has velopment of water policy and led to successful water supply sustainable water practices. projects (p.192). After carefully laying out Particularly striking are how water and gender are the interdisciplinary and cross- interconnected, the editors cultural case studies showing present a set of detailed case that water can be more than University. The long list of contributors studies about the effects of just an issue of management or science to the volume includes a development/ neoliberal policies (or “globalization”) or policy. One case study describes in policy analyst studying the gendered on the social inequity of water supply detail how the religious and spiritual treatment of water provision with Ac- and management. The case studies il- nature of water in India governs access tionAid Nepal; an anthropologist and lustrate how globalization has pushed to and use of water. In another, the au- an ethnobotanist discussing the prob- for the privatization of water supplies, thors show how the interplay of water, lems associated with the lack of water especially in the developing world. In gender, and caste — so central to vil- and its effect on the needs of the sick Bolivia, for example, a well-known case lages in the Himalayas — has made it from HIV/AIDS in South Africa; and played out as the “Water Wars of Co- very difficult to achieve equity of access a social development consultant de- chabamba.” The text details how this to water resources in the region. Even tailing the challenges faced by NGOs came about and what problems im- legislation has failed to bring equity to attempting to incorporate gender treat- mediately ensued. Most importantly, it the community in this case. ment into water projects. The broad describes the fundamental role women Editors Tina Wallace and Anne range of subject expertise and cultural played in successfully mobilizing resis- Coles, both researchers from the Unit- knowledge deeply enriches this book. tance to privatization. ed Kingdom, bring together the efforts Wallace and Coles introduce the In the second set of case studies, of two institutions — the Interna- volume with a detailed explanation of the editors explain how gender roles tional Gender Studies Centre at Queen the crucial themes that underlie the affect the introduction of new technol- Elizabeth House, Oxford University, topics of water, gender, and develop- ogy. In an especially compelling case, and the Institute of Irrigation and ment. This will be of great help to hand pumps for water were introduced Development Studies at Southampton readers who have experience in only to a rural area of Costa Rica. Practi-

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 13 Book Reviews tioners working in the field broadened sions. The assertiveness they showed in responsibilities in groups that regulated their approach to the project to include the classroom began to spill over into water management, and in general examination of participant family rela- their home lives. As gender sensitiv- their power was increased. The editors tionships and cultural water practices. ity was taught as part of the project, stress in their concluding chapter that The new approaches included model- women and their roles were better there is a great need to examine these ing respectful behavior and attitudes understood and, as a result, celebrated contrasting cases in detail to under- toward women by the project team. by men and women alike. Men became stand how successful cultural change Participants of both genders soon especially proud of their wives’ accom- can occur, so that further gender equity became more comfortable with, for plishments. can be achieved. example, women working outside the The editors finish up this volume This volume would be an excellent home and driving cars. Many activi- with an illustration of how changes in addition to any undergraduate or grad- ties of the project, including the data community participation can bring uate course in women’s studies, devel- collection, material development, and about gender equity. Two case stud- opment, or environmental studies. The training, were adjusted. Training, for ies from Mexico show an interesting science is clear and engaging, and the example, took a gendered approach by contrast. Mexico has one of the highest editors have done a comprehensive job acknowledging the existing unequal rates of male migration in the world, in defining the issues relating to water power structure between men and primarily because men move north to and gender in Latin America. The text women. Both genders became trainers, work in the fields of the United States. could generate much discussion and and the women were taught to speak Women are often left to farm alone further study. up and to participate more in discus- and become solely responsible for the Another way to make progress irrigation of their toward the goal of equal access to water crops. The first is to change the way we define water, study found that from a commodity that can be owned despite increased and sold to a public resource that be- responsibilities longs, by right, to all people. Author both in the field Maude Barlow, recently appointed the and in the home, first senior advisor on water issues to women’s voices the United Nations General Assembly, in this communi- is working to define water as a human ty were not heard right. Her book, Blue Covenant, de- as distinctly by tails how policymakers and industrial Mexican decision practices have forced the water crisis makers. In con- to a critical point. Barlow’s thesis is trast, a study of that privatization of water supplies has a small suburban caused life-or-death situations for peo- community out- ple around the world, especially those side of Mexico living in developing countries. She City revealed says, “What the private sector under- that urbanization stands is that in a world running out and women’s of clean water, whoever controls it will access to educa- be both powerful and wealthy” (p.34). tion can make a And lest we think access to water is an difference in the issue that only affects developing coun- amount of say tries, Barlow warns that thirty-six of women have over the fifty United States will be facing a water resource water crisis within five years. management. In South Africa, for example, In this com- market-based policies came into favor munity, women after the fall of apartheid, backed by were more vocal pressure from the World Bank. Some and had more regions turned water supplies over

Page 14 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Book Reviews to the management of large Barlow keeps the reader French and British companies, engaged throughout the book and some local systems simply with both her passion and a began charging residents for persuasive tone. Her more the water they had been get- generally accessible introduc- ting for free. Studies show tory treatment of the topic of that nearly ten million people privatization would be useful were disconnected from their for anyone interested in learn- water supplies for being un- ing more about how access to able to pay. water exemplifies the conflict While the situation in between human rights and South Africa is still unfolding, capitalism. Barlow does give encouraging When the world’s natural examples of grassroots efforts resources start to dwindle, by “water warriors” around those with the least political the world who are fighting power will have to struggle the successfully to prevent privati- most for equal access. Histori- zation of water resources. The cally, women and the poor have city of Cochabamba in Bolivia had the least power. All three was the site of the world’s books examine this lack of first “water war,” a case also power in the context of increas- described in Opposing Cur- ing corporate ownership of rents. Under pressure from the water and the lack of commit- World Bank and backed by ment to water as a basic human loans from the Inter-Ameri- right. All but Barlow’s directly can Development Bank, the identify the specific issues fac- Bolivian government put its ing women and are excellent municipal water works up for starting points to discuss water auction. The giant U.S. firm in a gendered context. And all Bechtel came in, tripled the region. The events crippled cities and three volumes should make price of water, and cut off those un- led to massive strikes. Two presidents us think the next time we turn on a able to pay. Public protest resulted in a were ousted, and the first indigenous faucet. strike that shut down the city for four president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was days. Subsequent protests were met named. Morales stated, “Water…must [Anne Moser is a special librarian in with government-initiated violence in remain a basic service, with participa- Wisconsin’s Water Library. She has which a seventeen-year-old boy was tion of the state, so that water can be worked in the environmental field for killed, and Bolivia declared a state provided almost for free” (p.105). more than twenty years.] of emergency throughout the entire

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 15 Feminist Visions

HIV/AIDS in Women: A Disease Spread by Misogyny and Violence

by Karen Walloch

Abstaining From Reality: U. S. Restrictions on HIV Prevention. 9 mins. Population Action Inter- national, 2007. Viewable online: http://www.populationaction.org/Publications/Documentaries/ (then select title from list).

In Women’s Hands: A Film on Women, HIV, and Hope. 26-min. & 11-min. versions. Written, produced, & edited by Tom Donohue and Connie Rinehart of Laughing Dog Productions, 2005. Distributed by Global Campaign for Microbicides/Global Coalition on Women and AIDS/Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, 1800 K St. NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC, 20006; phone: (202) 822-0033; website: http://www.global-campaign.org/film.htm. Avail- able in English or Spanish, VHS or DVD; approx. $15 (U.S.) including shipping to U.S. addresses (£10 or €15 elsewhere); discounted for bulk orders; free for “our partners from the Global South.”

Women at the Frontline: a documentary on women’s role in the global response to hiv/aids. 25-min. & 7-min. versions. Face of AIDS/Global AIDS Film Archive. Produced & directed by Staffan Hildeb- rand, 2008. Viewable online: http://www.faceofaids.org/show/video/43

From Risk to Action: Women and HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. 40 mins. Directed by Dorothy Fadiman. Produced by Dorothy Fadiman & Amy Hill, Concentric Media, 2006. Part of Fadiman Social Documentaries (Internet ar- chive). Viewable online: http://www.archive.org/details/from_risk_to_action_2006

Sasa! A Film About Women, Violence, and HIV/AIDS. 30-min. & 6-min. versions. Directed by Chanda Chevannes. Produced by Chanda Chevannes & Lori Michau. Co-produced by Raising Voices/The People’s Picture Com- pany, 2007. Viewable online: http://www.raisingvoices.org/women/Sasa_film.php

The Female Face of AIDS: Crisis in Malawi. 33 mins. Directed by Doug Karr & Edward Boyce. Produced by Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School & Chop Wood Carry Water Productions, 2007. English/Chichewa/Subtitles. Distributed by Choices, Inc., 3740 Overland Ave., Ste. F, Los Angeles, CA 90034; phone: (888) 570-5400; fax: (310) 839-1511; website: http://www.choicesvideo.net. Catalog # CH7053DVD. $49.95 + ship- ping, includes lesson plan/guidebook.

Yesterday. 95 mins. Written and directed by Darrell James Roodt. HBO Films (http://www.hbo.com/films/yester- day/), 2006. Zulu with English subtitles. DVD, ISBN 0-7831-3357-X. List price $26.98; on sale for $14.97 from HBO Store: http://store.hbo.com/ (Item # 2171839).

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has sexual transmission, women subjected nomic power and double standards for passed a dire turning point in the last to social and cultural traditions that sexual behavior are condoned. Under few years — women now account for tolerate or even expect male sexual ex- such standards, men are encouraged a majority of those afflicted with the ploitation of females are especially vul- to sexually exploit as many women as disease. Although women everywhere nerable. HIV infection runs rampant they can, while paradoxically valuing must deal with the fact that most HIV/ in, for example, some African societies chastity and monogamy in their wives. AIDS cases now stem from hetero- in which men hold most of the eco- Women are expected to remain virgin

Page 16 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Feminist Visions until they marry, but then to have eties’ traditional gender roles. As one boyfriend infected her because neither many children. How can they protect woman explains in the filmIn Women’s of them knew how to use condoms themselves from infection and yet re- Hands, “If we don’t deal with gender properly. Short and simple, this film main fertile? inequality, we won’t break the back of effectively condemns the misguided Violence against women is part of the pandemic.” policy of relying on moral precepts the “standard operating procedure” of In the nine-minute documentary alone to combat the spread of a sexu- intimate relationships in some tradi- Abstaining from Reality, Population Ac- ally transmitted disease. tions. Poor women wind up in the tion International lambastes the United sex trade, where they risk losing cus- States government for restricting its In Women’s Hands: A Film on tomers if they demand condom use. funding to programs that preach absti- Women, HIV, and Hope, produced by Wives who ask their husbands to wear nence as the only effective prevention the Global Campaign for Microbicides, condoms risk being beaten for even against HIV. Featuring African HIV/ points out that HIV transmission to suggesting it, because their women is complicated by requests are viewed as ad- gender inequality, domestic missions of infidelity. Such violence, and poverty. The conditions only increase the film argues that women possibility of transmitting worldwide have difficulty in HIV. For women in such persuading their partners to situations, seeking protec- use condoms consistently. tion from HIV infection As one woman says, “It’s sad becomes an act of rebellion that we have to negotiate at against long-entrenched all. It should be something patriarchal systems that understood by both people.” condone male sexual ir- Especially vulnerable are responsibility and promote women who want and are male domination of sexual, expected to have children family, and economic life. in their marriages, yet lack the standing to demand that One theatrical film their husbands take steps to and a number of recent protect them from infection. documentaries illustrate Women desperately need a that gender discrimination discrete means to prevent — in all its perplexities and HIV transmission, a tool complexities — promotes they can use without their the transmission of HIV/ partner’s knowledge or per- AIDS. Relying mostly on mission. In Women’s Hands personal histories to explore argues that vaginal microbi- the parameters of devasta- cides can provide just such a tion wrought by HIV, each tool by empowering women of these productions makes in overtly repressive societies the same claim: that HIV, to own their reproductive whether acquired through health. Not surprisingly, this rape, casual sex, or in the film’s primary objective is to course of a faithful marriage, now af- AIDS workers who speak out about the raise public awareness of the need for flicts more women than ever, and that infeasibility of this health campaign, it funding for microbicide research and it thrives in cultures that value males pleads for evidence-based HIV preven- development. It can be viewed in either over females and permit violence tion methods. For instance, a Ugandan an eleven-minute or a twenty-six-min- against women. To truly fight the woman tells how she successfully ab- ute version. spread of this dread disease, women are stained from sex until she was seven- Women at the Frontline: A Docu- finding they must challenge their soci- teen and fell in love, at which point her mentary on Women’s Role in the Global

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 17 Feminist Visions

Response to HIV/AIDS is a twenty-five- The forty-minute From Risk seen from the vantage point of a cul- minute film (also viewable in a seven- to Action: Women and HIV/AIDS in tural perspective that expects wives to minute version) shown at the 2008 Ethiopia shows how difficult the prob- bear many children. Fearing beatings Mexico City conference on AIDS. It lem is for women stuck in a “culture and blame for infidelity, many married profiles four women with HIV, “the of embarrassment about sex” with few women hide their positive status from new face of AIDS,” each of whom rep- health services. Their situation seems the husbands who gave them HIV. resents an aspect of HIV’s global spread truly dismal. Many Ethiopian women Yet there is hope here, in the pow- to women and its widely varying means undergo female circumcision that er of women organizing in their com- of transmission. We meet a former makes them more vulnerable to infec- munities to educate about HIV/AIDS, intravenous drug user in Indonesia, a tion from HIV. Their society condones provide care, and push for real societal Bolivian rape victim, a Swedish teen rape and male violence toward women. change to improve the status of wom- born with HIV, and a married South Pointing out the incongruity between en. Both Mama Joyce and Josephine African woman who contracted the religious moral teaching and actual rebound from their miserable situa- virus from her husband. Each woman’s behaviors, this film hammers home the tions to recreate themselves as HIV story demonstrates how she took posi- message that the only way to get ahead activists and caregivers. Sasa! is part of tive, creative action in the face of her of HIV is for women to achieve equal a larger effort that Raising Voices calls plight, despite gender inequities and footing with men. It profiles several the “Sasa! methodology” —mobilizing stigma. These women now work as ac- Ethiopian women working to change community activists to prevent both tivists and organizers, counseling other social and cultural attitudes about HIV and violence against women by HIV-positive women and fighting women so that ultimately, women will challenging the attitudes of male en- discrimination. Their lives demonstrate have more control over when and how titlement and privilege that perpetuate that HIV may be manageable with the they have sex. power differentials between men and proper medication, but that the regi- Truly inspiring, however, is Sasa! women. Since 1999, Raising Voices has men required is complicated and they This half-hour documentary produced been developing innovative programs are fortunate to live where they have by Raising Voices, a Ugandan anti-vio- to prevent and respond to the problem access to affordable drugs. lence organization, explores how HIV of violence against both women and thrives in sub-Saharan cultures that children. This film is just one of many Three other documentaries permit sexual exploitation and violence resources this group makes available for confront the need for broad societal against women. “Sasa” is a Kiswahili anti-violence activists. The group also change in order to slow the spread of word meaning “now,” and this film publishes a number of studies, books, HIV and push for such change. In tell- shows the urgent need for fostering a and activist kits that are available as ing the stories of women in the African dialogue about the way routine vio- free downloads. countries of Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanza- lence in women’s lives enables HIV nia, and Malawi, all three films reso- transmission. By telling the stories of The Female Face of AIDS: Crisis nate with the theme that we have no two women, Mama Joyce in Uganda in Malawi, produced by the Fordham hope of controlling the spread of HIV and Josephine in Tanzania, the film Law School Leitner Center for Inter- in a world that tolerates gender inequi- argues concisely that health activists national Law and Justice, emphasizes ties. It is not enough to preach absti- must also work to change cultural at- that economic disparity between men nence or beg men to wear condoms titudes that permit men to believe it is and women also fuels HIV transmis- if their culture conditions and allows acceptable to beat and abuse the wom- sion. Exploring the plight of HIV- them to exploit and dominate women. en in their lives and also to assume positive women pushed into extreme In these countries where the HIV situ- they have the privilege of having many poverty by customs that allow their ation is so dire, women must gain suffi- sex partners. Domestic violence forces communities to stigmatize them, this cient economic power and social stand- many African women who understand thirty-three-minute documentary ing to make men heed this message precisely how HIV is transmitted to records a law student group’s investiga- consistently. Only then do they have accept their partners’ risky behaviors tion of how the AIDS epidemic affects any hope of controlling HIV. Ironi- anyway. Expected to be fertile as well Malawian communities and how the cally, then, HIV/AIDS can become a as faithful, wives cannot easily demand traditional culture in these communi- vehicle, a tool for women’s liberation in that their husbands always practice safe ties hastens the spread of the disease. the most repressive societies. sex. Condom usage is ridiculous when The result of interviews with hundreds

Page 18 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Feminist Visions

miserable by tak- clinic for a diagnosis, she informs her ing away the very husband, who beats her even though land they need he knows that he probably infected for economic her. Shunned by her formerly friendly independence. and helpful neighbors when he returns Yet this film also home to die, she selflessly nurses him documents the as AIDS takes its inexorable toll. Be- efforts of female cause it focuses dramatically on the HIV activists tragedy of one person, Yesterday power- who have orga- fully delivers the emotional impact of nized to chal- the devastation wrought by AIDS and lenge traditional the ways gender inequality and poverty customs and promote its transmission. inequalities as a baseline ap- Although these gender inequali- proach to stop- ties sometimes seem heart-wrenchingly ping HIV, and insuperable, many women have found emphasizes that in the HIV/ AIDS public health crisis a concerted gov- new sense of strength and solidarity as ernmental efforts they organize and support one another to deliver appro- to fight the disease; they are even us- priate medica- ing this crisis as a vehicle for liberation tions can restore from male dominance. The women the dying to pro- profiled in these films can inspire all ductive lives. of us. Their crisis should also serve as Each of a cautionary tale for any complacency these documen- about how HIV spreads. It is a disease taries intends that can affect any human being any- to raise global where, and that reality should motivate of HIV-positive women and activists, awareness that us to reexamine the power differentials the film shows how traditional gen- we face a health crisis no nation can in our most intimate relationships. der expectations combine with male ignore. They come with a wealth of Women living in seemingly more eq- domination of economic power to additional material to help organize uitable societies in Europe and North limit women’s opportunities to support classes on women and AIDS. Each one America should not have to negotiate themselves and their children. Poverty is valuable for inspiring discussion and with their male sex partners about con- forces many women into prostitution, is just the right length for inclusion in dom use either, but they do. And that which renders them vulnerable to HIV the standard class period. is a dangerous situation. infection by customers who will not use condoms. Police try to control Taking a different approach, [Karen Walloch is a historian of medicine the epidemic by arresting and test- Yesterday uses cinematic fiction to and public health currently teaching in ing female sex workers, but not their portray the plight of a young illiterate the Department of Medical History and male clients, illustrating the futility of mother stricken with AIDS, living in Bioethics at the University of Wiscon- HIV control that refuses to acknowl- a remote and primitive farming vil- sin–Madison. Her 2007 dissertation edge and deal with the problem of lage in Zululand. Alone because her focuses on the American anti-vaccination male sexual irresponsibility. Relatives, husband must work in a faraway mine, movement from 1890 to 1905, but her husbands, and neighbors often shun she works hard so her daughter can other research interests include women’s HIV-positive women and their chil- have the education she never had. After health issues.] dren and render their existence more a long struggle just to get to a distant

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 19 E-Sources on Women and Gender

Our website (http://womenst.library.wisc.edu/) includes casual readers to propose updates and, in a later stage, to up- recent editions of this column and links to complete back load new articles. This first iteration creates easy access to the issues of Feminist Collections, plus many bibliographies, a articles on the CD-ROM and gives users the opportunity to database of women-focused videos, and links to hundreds of add links, updates, and suggestions for new content.” other websites by topic. Information about electronic journals and magazines, The National Online Resource Center on particularly those with numbered or dated issues posted on Violence Against Women offers a collection of a regular schedule, can be found in our “Periodical Notes” tools for helping people learn about preventing violence column. against women, at http://new.vawnet.org/category/index_ pages.php?category_id=867. The tools include classes and High-school English teachers can use standard classroom tutorials, slide shows and PowerPoint presentations, videos texts — Lord of the Flies, for instance, or Their Eyes Were of lectures and workshops, podcasts, Web conferences, quiz- Watching God — to teach about power, control, and pre- zes, and more. venting violence and abuse in teen relationships, with help from the Lessons from Literature program at Reference librarian Ken Middleton (Middle Tennessee State http://www.lessonsfromliterature.org. The program is University) has assembled an amazing resource: a database sponsored by the Family Violence Prevention Fund. indexing more than 400 “digital collections of primary sources (photos, letters, diaries, artifacts, etc.) that docu- New forms of communication can make way for new forms ment the history of women in the United States.” From the of some age-old problems like harassment and stalking. For home page of DISCOVERING AMERICAN WOMEN’S instance, along with the popularity of text-messaging comes HISTORY ONLINE, http://library.mtsu.edu/digital- the possibility of “textual harassment”; someone’s privacy projects/womenshistory.php, it’s easy to browse or search can be violated by a boyfriend or girlfriend breaking into subject headings that lead to such wide-ranging resources as their email or FaceBook account; and the freedom to share the American Foundation for the Blind’s collection of Helen photos online can become unwanted pressure to look at Keller’s letters; the National Library of Medicine’s materi- or post offensive images. “Where do you draw your digital als on physician Virginia Apgar; an index of nearly 20,000 line?” asks THAT’S NOT COOL.COM, a site for young quilts; and materials in the Library of Congress about dancer people sponsored by the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Katherine Dunham. The database is also searchable by state, Videos, “talk it out” forums, and shareable “callout cards” at time period, and primary source type. http://www.thatsnotcool.com/ address these contemporary dilemmas and encourage such time-proven solutions as hon- “The CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS uses esty, respect, and clear communication. I’m not convinced, the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental though, that all of the “callout card” messages further the human right that all governments are legally obligated to site’s professed goals: “If you got this, it must have been protect, respect, and fulfill.” Reproductive rights, and the lucky enough to make it through the billion texts from your Center’s work, are about much more than abortion, as a boyfriend” just sounds snarky to me. look around http://www.reproductiverights.org will show. Featured among the center’s publications, for instance, are Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Histori- “Maternal Mortality in India,” “At Risk: Rights Violations cal Encyclopedia, originally published on CD- of HIV-Positive Women in Kenyan Health Facilities,” “Gen- ROM by Shalvi Publishing Ltd. in 2006, is now available der-Based Violence Laws in Sub-Saharan Africa,” and “Im- online and for free at the Jewish Women’s Archive: http:// posing Misery: The Impact of Manila’s Contraception Ban jwa.org/encyclopedia. Furthermore, it is a living, growing on Women and Families.” One of the Center’s major issue work: as the Archive staff explain, “Never has so much well- areas is “Safe and Healthy Pregnancy.” researched and well-written material about Jewish women been available in one place. Being online means an exponen- The OP-ED PROJECT aims “to bring gender balance to tial increase in access to that information. Any encyclopedia the nation’s op-ed pages.” Because “women currently do not is an unfinished work. By putting this one online, the Jewish submit op-eds with anywhere near the frequency that men Women’s Archive is making it possible for scholars and more do,” the project “target[s] and train[s] women experts in all

Page 20 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) E-Sources on Women & Gender fields to write for the op-ed pages of major print and online WMW in South Africa, as well as in the online International forums of public discourse.” No matter what your gender, Museum of Women: http://www.imow.org/wpp/stories/ you can pick up some great tips on writing opinion-editorial viewStory?storyid=1867. columns and letters to editors at http://www.theopedpro- ject.org/cms/ — you can even find out exactly how to sub- Transcripts of interviews with nearly sixty women who dis- mit a piece to the Baltimore Sun, the San Jose Mercury News, tinguished themselves as leaders, activists, organizers, and and ninety-eight other top U.S. newspapers. advocates in the late twentieth century are housed in the So- phia Smith Collection of Smith College Libraries, and most TheENCYCLOPEDIA OF WOMEN & ISLAMIC CUL- of these transcripts, along with biographical sketches of the TURES is a six-volume work, published in English over a featured women, are available online via Smith’s Voices period of several years beginning in 2003 (Brill Academic of Feminism oral history project: www. Publishers), and described as “a broad based, interdisciplin- smith.edu/library/libs/ssc/vof/vof-intro.html. Visitors to ary, cross-cultural, transhistorical encyclopedia, focusing spe- this resource can learn about Katherine Acey’s work in “pro- cifically on women and Islamic cultures, but also including gressive philanthropy,” Charon Asetoyer’s directorship of the non-Muslim women in cultures where Islam has had a sig- Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Cen- nificant presence.” With funding from the Swedish Institute ter, Brenda Berkman’s class-action lawsuit against New York of Alexandria and the Ford Foundation, and supervised by City’s fire department, Mary Chung Hayashi’s “path towards the Women and Memory Forum, Volume 1 of this impor- becoming the first Korean American elected to the Califor- tant work has been translated into Arabic and is now avail- nia State Assembly,” Meredith Tax’s combining of writing able online to the public, without charge, at http://sjoseph. and activism, and the lives and accomplishments of many ucdavis.edu/ewic/volume1.htm. other pillars of feminism, both well- and less-well-known.

The World March of Women (WMW) is, ac- New for the University of Wisconsin System, from the cording to the organization’s site at http://www.worldmar- Women’s Studies Librarian! An online guide to researching chofwomen.org/qui_nous_sommes/en/, “an international topics related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer, feminist action movement connecting grass-roots groups or questioning issues, using the UW System libraries and and organizations working to eliminate the causes at the the Internet: Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgen- root of poverty and violence against women.” In 2004, the dered-Queer Studies: Introduction to WMW articulated a “global charter for humanity” that Resources for Researching LGBTQ Topics “describes the world women want to build,” based on the in University of Wisconsin System Librar- values of “equality, freedom, solidarity, justice, and peace.” ies at http://researchguides.library.wisc.edu/LGBTQ_Li- In 2005, the movement took this charter to the road, the brary_Resources_UW_System. There is also a format airways, and the sea in a “relay around the world,” visiting specifically for UW–Madison users, LGBTQ Studies sixty-four places where women contributed quilt blocks Resources at UW–Madison, at http://research- signifying their commitment to those values. The resulting guides.library.wisc.edu/LGBT_Studies. solidarity quilt is on display in the offices of the Compiled by JoAnne Lehman

Miriam Greenwald Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 21 New Reference Works in Women’s Studies

Abortion Spanning the years 1700–2007 source material. I highly recommend (although focusing mostly on the years it for purchase by public and academic Laurie Collier Hillstrom, ROE V. from 1972 to the present), the narra- library reference collections, women’s WADE. Detroit, MI: Omnigraph- tive chapters of the book are organized studies department reference collec- ics, 2008. (Defining moments series.) in chronological order, which should tions, and personal use. Although the 249p. bibl. index. photos. $49.00, be a help to readers who have minimal author has presented the comprehen- ISBN 978-0780810266. knowledge of the case itself. Non-ob- sive scope of Roe v. Wade in a neutral trusive cross-referencing and shaded fashion, the book makes for informa- Reviewed by Yadira V. Payne article inserts allow for fluid movement tive, emotional, and inspiring reading. through the chapters and related bio- The ideal that a woman’s body is graphical and primary source entries. [Yadira V. Payne is the government docu- her own has been debated, regulated, The biographies are listed alpha- ments librarian and an assistant profes- and fought over for centuries. Personal betically rather than chronologically. sor of library science at Augusta State views on the subject — pro-life or Each entry includes a photo and brief University’s Reese Library. She holds an pro-choice — notwithstanding, this information that includes place of MLIS from Drexel University and is a newest volume in the “Defining Mo- birth, full name, interesting personal published author and an artist. She is ments” series is successful at objectively or professional data, and a small article also on the campus planning committee portraying the historical, political, so- giving the person’s official title and for “The Vagina Monologues 2009.”] cial, and religious issues that led up to, summarizing his or her connection to developed from, and have been raised the Roe v. Wade case and official posi- since the monumental 1973 Supreme tion on the issue. Much to the editor’s American Women on Court decision in Roe v. Wade. credit, each biography ends with a list Women’s Rights This volume is well-organized and of sources used so that readers can do easy to use. In keeping with the rest further research. Joyce Duncan, Shapers of the of the series, it is divided into three The final section, “Primary Sourc- Great Debate on Women’s sections: “Narrative Overview,” “Bi- es,” lists official laws, acts, resolutions, Rights: A Biographical ographies,” and “Primary Sources.” A and other important documents dis- Dictionary. Westport, CT: preface declares the book’s neutrality, cussed in the book, and quotes relevant Greenwood Press, 2008. (Shapers of and there is a thorough “How to Use excerpts from these documents. Sourc- the great American debates, no.9.) This Book” section. es for the quoted excerpts are listed at 232p. bibl. index. $75.00, ISBN The narrative overview is divided the end of each item in this section. 978-0313338694; ebook, ISBN 978- into easy-to-follow chapters that pro- Included in this book’s set of refer- 0313082443 (contact publisher for vide a condensed history of abortion ence tools are a glossary of important price). and cover the Roe v. Wade case itself, people, places, and terms, in alphabeti- implications of the landmark deci- cal order; an indexed timeline; a list of Reviewed by Susan E. Searing sion, and the challenges encountered sources for further study; a bibliogra- today. Each of the seven chapters phy; and an index. College lecturer Joyce Duncan highlights the movement’s better- and Although intended primarily for aims to awaken students’ appreciation lesser-known figures, cases, and acts, Grades 8 through 12, readers of all ages for women’s history by introducing including Anthony Comstock and his will findRoe V. Wade an engaging book them to the major figures in the fight Comstock Act and Roe attorney Linda for reference, personal inspiration, or for women’s rights, starting with Fanny Coffee. browsing. The strength of this work is Wright (1795–1852) and ending with that the entries move past the utilitar- Rebecca Walker (1969– ). As a histori- ian to become critical examinations of cal narrative in the great-woman tradi- tion, this book can be recommended as

Page 22 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) New Reference Works an engaging and inspirational resource. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who are both her suffrage organization’s support for As a biographical dictionary, however, placed in the main section. World War II (p.99). Obvious errors judged by the usual criteria applied to The subtitle,A Biographical Dic- like these cause the reader to distrust reference books, it is disappointing. tionary, implies an A-to-Z arrange- other facts in the book. At the outset, the title promises ment, but instead the organizing This work is the latest in a series more than the volume delivers. A framework is a convoluted chronology. of biographical dictionaries focused more accurate title would be FEMALE The longer entries are divided between on controversies over immigration, Shapers of the Great Debate on AMERI- two sections, each introduced by an freedom of religion, and other subjects. CAN Women’s Rights. Men are exclud- essay that highlights major themes and In libraries where earlier volumes have ed, as are foreigners who influenced events: “First Wave: The Woman Ques- proven useful, this one may likewise be feminist thinking in the United States, tion to Suffrage”; and “Second- and appreciated. Most academic libraries, such as Simone de Beauvoir. Because Third-Wave Feminism: Civil Rights to however, can get by with works that the overwhelming majority of the the Internet.” Within each section, en- they probably already own. Notable seventy-four biographees were or are tries are ordered not by birth or death American Women and its supplements staunch advocates for women’s rights, dates, but rather by date of “activity (Belknap Press, 1971–2004) provide the wider “debate” over the nature of within the movement.” This practice is more detailed and authoritative biog- Woman and her proper role remains inconsistent, however, since bell hooks raphies for all of the deceased women in the background, while nuanced (1952– ) appears two entries ahead of in Shapers. Barbara Love’s Feminists conflicts within the movement over Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962). Who Changed America, 1963–1975 tactics and ideologies are examined. In the appendix of short biographies, (University of Illinois Press, 2006) In her brief preface, Duncan helpfully which lacks a table of contents, the supplies background on the leaders of explains the “waves” of feminism. She order is strictly by year of birth (except the Second Wave. Jennifer Scanlon’s identifies the First Wave with the suf- for Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis, a Significant Contemporary American frage movement, and the Second with suffragist born in 1813, whose entry is Feminists: A Biographical Sourcebook the twentieth-century battles for work- misplaced at the start of the twentieth (Greenwood, 1999) cogently and criti- place equality, reproductive rights, and century). Fortunately the volume has a cally showcases the variety of theories other legal reforms. The Third Wave, good index. and strategies that shape activism for now under way, is more vaguely de- Special features that enhance the women’s rights today. Donna Langs- scribed as a movement to include les- reference value of biographical diction- ton’s A to Z of American Women Lead- bians and women of color in women’s aries are absent. There are no portraits ers and Activists (Facts on File, 2002), progress, “among other issues.” or illustrations. Although many of which covers many fields of endeavor, On the whole, Duncan’s subjects the women were linked as allies, op- can also be recommended. All that sets are well chosen. All the major suf- ponents, mentors, and even relatives, Duncan’s book apart from these excel- fragists are present, from Stanton and there are no cross-references in the lent earlier works are her inclusion of a Anthony to Alice Paul. The late-twen- text. To the author’s credit, however, all few opponents of women’s rights and tieth-century entries omit some key of the entries, even the shortest ones, her emphasis on points of disagree- women (Robin Morgan, for example), conclude with two or more citations ment. Through abbreviated life stories, but do feature women of diverse racial to secondary works or memoirs, which she reveals how debates over the nature and class backgrounds, including Shir- are gathered together in the bibliogra- of women’s rights and the methods to ley Chisholm and Audre Lorde. Forty- phy at the back of the volume. Duncan advance them have both united and four women are accorded full entries also provides a timeline. divided American women since the (typically two to four pages) and are Factual accuracy is paramount in struggle for equality began. listed in the table of contents. The works of this genre. Precise dates are remaining thirty-two appear in an ap- frequently mentioned in the biographi- [Susan E. Searing is the library & infor- pendix of short entries. Duncan fails to cal accounts, but some of them are mation science librarian at the University explain adequately why some women wrong. Sojourner Truth, who died in of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.] merited full entries and others briefer 1883, is reported to have dictated her treatment. The “short” biography of life history in 1950 (p.19), while Car- Harriot Stanton Blatch is actually lon- rie Chapman Catt allegedly proclaimed ger than those of Mary Livermore and

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 23 New Reference Works

Architects The assumption that women were of each architect’s papers is included naturally inclined toward house design if known. Indexing is thorough. Two Sarah Allaback, The First Ameri- began to dissolve as women slowly appendices list female graduates of ar- can Women Architects. gained entrance into new architecture chitectural schools and members of the Champagne, IL: University of Illinois programs, such as the one at Cornell American Institute of Architects. An Press (www.press.uillinois.edu), 2008. University. The first World’s Fair held annotated bibliography in text format 280p. illus. notes. append. bibl. index. in America (Chicago, 1893) was a (slightly more challenging to read than $45.00, ISBN 978-0252033216. turning point for widespread public a list) refers to biographies, essays, dis- recognition of women architects, as sertations, reference books, archives, Reviewed by Madeleine Charney they fiercely debated how to best rep- exhibitions (with catalogs), and two resent themselves at this exposition. websites. These sources provide tools It isn’t easy to uncover the hidden Highlighting such pivotal events en- for future researchers to use in un- stories of early women architects. Be- livens the author’s writing and piques earthing more information about early cause there were social barriers to edu- the reader’s curiosity. Allaback deftly women architects about whom so little cation and recognition for women in reveals how the suffragist movement, is known. this male-dominated field, the records World War I, the Great Depression, There are other reference books of- are scant and unclear. It is understand- and other transformative periods fering more comprehensive coverage of able that some women architects used threaded through the lives of these women architects, such as Architecture male-sounding pseudonyms or initials women and profoundly influenced and Women: A Bibliography Document- instead of first names to veil their fe- their career paths. ing Women Architects, Landscape Archi- male identities, but that tactic has also Besides the biographical informa- tects, Designers, Architectural Critics and limited our opportunity to appreciate tion, each entry offers insights into the Writers in the U.S., by Lamia Doumato their achievements today. In spite of nuances of the architect’s style, often (Garland, 1988). Allaback, however, these challenges, architectural historian speculating about why her professional features the earliest of these pioneers Sarah Allaback has reconstructed a life evolved as it did. For instance, Har- who led the way for other women, in concise and readable history of seventy- riet Moody managed Depression-era a text both enlightening and pleasur- six dedicated and talented women who scarcity with the use of recycled materi- able to read. Many of the civic-minded were either attending schools of archi- als that “gave a special quality to her women she describes were diligent tecture or working in the profession by cottages, which were intended to seem advocates of historic preservation. The 1920. old-world English, and preserved a lamentable loss of their own histories A forty-page introduction provides sense of craftsmanship at a time when may be at least partially corrected as re- rich social context, beginning with traditional building techniques were search continues in this area. Allaback an excerpt from a letter in 1926 to being lost” (p.139). At times, readers encourages future scholars to dig deep- the American Institute of Architects are treated to a glimpse into the archi- er into archives and increasingly acces- (AIA) from Katherine Budd, the first tect’s work setting. Marion Mahoney sible online resources. Well informed female member of the Institute’s New Griffin, for example, was employed by the author’s work with the National York chapter. Budd demands that the by Frank Lloyd Wright during her Park Service, the National Historic AIA refrain from its persistent addi- first year in the profession and “shared Landmarks Program, and the Historic tion of “Miss” to her name in its list- Wright’s love of drama, in particular American Buildings Survey/Historic ings, because no comparable prefix of dressing up in period costumes and American Engineering Record, The was attached to any male member’s performing theatricals” (p.88). First American Women Architects will be name. The introduction also recalls an The illustrations, which round an asset to public and academic refer- alternative to practicing architecture out the histories, include portraits, ence collections. that many women used in the mid- blueprints, advertisements, and photo- nineteenth century — writing fiction, graphs of public and private buildings. [Madeleine Charney is a reference ser- essays, travel diaries, historical sketches, Especially inspiring are the photo- vices librarian at the University of Mas- and other texts that reflected their per- graphs of women at worksites and in sachusetts at Amherst. She is the library ceptions of the built world. Allaback their studios hovering over drawings liaison to the Department of Landscape notes that such publications were a — the emblem of their fulfillment and Architecture and Regional Planning and force behind the opening of design productivity. Each entry includes a par- serves on the Faculty Senate’s Status of schools in many major American cities. tial list of buildings as well as writings Women Council.] and additional sources. The location Page 24 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) New Reference Works

Feminism in the U.S.A. younger audience. It should work just “Third Wave Feminism: Embrac- as well, though, for any woman of any ing Contradiction” deals with the evo- Rory Dicker, A HISTORY OF U.S. age who has missed this essential take lution of feminism in the wake of the FEMINISMS. Berkeley, CA: Seal on our country’s history: “When they Reagan-era backlash, including women Press, 2008. 180p. bibl. index. $12.95, discover the inequalities women faced in and running for political office, ISBN 978-1-58005-234-4. in the past, students can’t help calling women’s activism in response to the themselves feminists. I hope reading AIDs epidemic, and LBGTQI issues. Reviewed by Elzbieta Beck this brief history...has a similar effect The book also includes chapters on you” (p.ix). summarizing the legacy of feminism For the girls and women, myself To this end, Dicker presents a and the importance of understanding included, who were born after the concise, simply worded history of history in making the move forward, as height of feminist political success in American women’s movements, di- well as a reader’s guide and suggestions the 1960s and 1970s and the cultural vided into three historical and ideologi- for further reading. backlash against those gains in the cal stages, First Wave, Second Wave, While the simplicity and the brev- 1980s, the complicated cultural as- and Third Wave Feminism, each of ity of A History of U.S. Feminisms often sumptions and norms produced by which is treated in a separate chapter. seem to constrain the author from both movements seem as distant as “First Wave Feminism: Fighting for the elaborating on important issues and Cold War standoffs, and yet their con- Vote” sidesteps the tricky but impor- events in the history of women’s rights sequences shape our perceptions of self tant issue of women in the American in the United States, they also make and our expectations and goals. In her Revolution and picks up around 1800. the work a welcoming introduction for relatively short text, Rory Dicker tar- Mentioning Native American women newcomers to the subject. gets this demographic with her expla- and women confined to slavery only in nation and clarification of the history passing, this chapter focuses mostly on [Elzbieta Beck is an undergraduate at of women’s rights and women’s move- the evolution of middle- and upper- the University of Wisconsin–Madison, ments in the United States. class, predominantly white women’s where she has discovered she has no idea The author identifies herself as movements, such as the abolition what she wants to do when she grows up. a “latecomer to feminism” (p.vii), organizations on the East Coast and She’s currently very content as a student and her book is meant to serve as an the work of Elizabeth Cady Stanton office assistant for the Women’s Studies introduction to the subject designed and Susan B. Anthony. Ideological dif- Librarian.] to prevent such a late arrival for its ferences and infighting in these early women’s movements, especially in the struggle for women’s suffrage, are also Native American Women explored. The next chapter, “Second Wave Stephanie A. Sellers, NATIVE Feminism: Seeking Liberation and AMERICAN WOMEN’S STUDIES: Equality,” picks up with the winning of A PRIMER. New York: Peter Lang the vote for women and carries all the Publishing, 2008. 121p. bibl. $29.95, way through to the defeat of the Equal ISBN 978-0820497105. Rights Amendment and the rise of the right-wing anti-feminism of the 1980s. Reviewed by Sharon Ladenson Dicker covers the Great Depression and women’s roles in the Second World What are the key concepts and ter- War rather briefly in favor of a more minology specific to Native American indepth look at women in the Civil women’s studies? Are Western feminist Rights Movement, Title VII (equal em- theories appropriate for analyzing ployment), and Title IX; but the latter Native women’s cultures? What are half of the chapter is devoted to what examples of critical texts and journals most think of as the Feminist Move- for designing coursework and conduct- ment: the protests for women’s rights ing research specific to Native women? in the late 1960s and 1970s.

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 25 New Reference Works

What are some potential student ration of the contemporary lives of and are receiving increased coverage in research topics on Native women’s his- women of indigenous cultures. feminist philosophy courses” (p. viii). tory and experiences? Native American Native American Women’s Studies: A The intended audience is students in Women’s Studies: A Primer is an effective Primer is a useful reference tool for de- feminist philosophy or women’s studies guide for finding answers to these and veloping introductory university-level classes, as well as anyone with a general other questions about women of indig- courses on the history and cultural interest in feminist theory. enous cultures. experiences of indigenous women in McHugh, an associate professor of The text primarily focuses on the the United States. The background philosophy at Wittenberg University, history and cultures of “indigenous on Native American women’s studies explains in her introduction that be- peoples living in the continental concepts and terminology may also be cause she considers whiteness to be a United States” (p.9). Written primar- useful to those researching indigenous “location from which white feminists ily for teaching faculty, the volume women’s experiences. Recommended theorize whether or not they are aware provides clear guidelines for develop- for academic libraries. of it” (p. ix), she identifies the race or ing introductory Native American ethnicity of each of the feminist phi- women’s studies courses. The author [Sharon Ladenson is the gender studies losophers in this volume (white, Afri- includes information about setting and communications librarian at Michi- can-American, Indian, Latina, French, specific goals and objectives; details for gan State University.] and so forth), in addition to naming creating research assignments (includ- the country in which each lives. ing topic suggestions); active learning Unlike the Historical Dictionary exercises for the classroom; topics for Philosophy of Feminist Philosophy (2006), Feminist lecture and discussion; suggested titles Philosophies A–Z covers only twenti- for required and supplementary course Nancy Arden McHugh, FEMINIST eth- and twenty-first century feminism; texts and reference materials; relevant PHILOSOPHIES A–Z. Edinburgh, thus, Mary Wollstonecraft is omitted. journals for conducting research; and UK: Edinburgh University Press, McHugh also decided not to include a detailed sample proposal form for 2007. 192p. bibl. $96.00, ISBN 978- feminist men, and she mentions that teaching a Native American women’s 0748622177; pap., $24.00, ISBN 978- she doesn’t include every woman who studies course. 0748621538. has contributed to feminist philosophy, The author raises numerous critical since “it is hard to give all of these fig- questions and explores significant issues Reviewed by Jeanne Armstrong ures the attention they are due” (p. ix). to consider when teaching about wom- Feminist Philosophies A–Z identi- en of Native ancestry. For example, she Feminist Philosophies A-Z is a fies many important feminist phi- argues that Western feminism (which small and tightly focused book. One losophers who are not mentioned in seeks to improve women’s economic of fifteen “A–Z” titles in Edinburgh’s the Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories, and social status) does not neatly apply comprehensive philosophy series, it is including Helen Longino, Sara Rud- to the study of indigenous cultures, as arranged in alphabetical order — as the dick, Mary Mahowald, Uma Narayan, Native American women “do not fight title indicates — and covers terminol- Rosi Braidotti, Susan Bordo, Eva Kit- for women’s rights, but for communal ogy, concepts, philosophical theories, tay, and Moira Gatens, to name a few. rights, and community means Mother and philosophers relevant to contem- At the same time, A–Z does not cover Earth and all her creatures” (p.54). porary feminist philosophy. (Some oth- all the feminist theorists included in Sellers clearly explains Native American er topics in the series are epistemology, the Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories, women’s studies concepts and termi- ethics, aesthetics, Indian philosophy, since McHugh has narrowed her focus nology (such as the role of the Clan Islamic philosophy, and the philoso- to just feminist philosophy, not the Mother), and explores topics such as phy of science.) Author Nancy Arden broader field of feminist theory. She sexuality, pregnancy, and birth control McHugh’s stated purpose is both to does, however, include such topics as within the context of indigenous cul- provide a “representative coverage of “Black Feminist Thought,” “Chicana tures. She analyzes the experiences of the field” and to focus on specific areas, Feminism and Latina Feminism,” Native American women in historical such as transnational feminism and “Third World Feminism,” and “Post- context (including the colonial period), Third World feminism, that “may have colonial Theory,” as well as entries on and concludes the text with an explo- received less coverage in other referenc- French feminists and feminist philoso- es or are newer to feminist philosophy phers from India and other regions.

Page 26 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) New Reference Works

The entries inFeminist Philosophies Villanueva Gardner). While not as in Notable Women in American Theatre A-Z are shorter and more basic than comprehensive as other recent refer- (Greenwood, 1989): those in the Encyclopedia of Feminist ence publications on feminist philoso- Theories. McHugh does not attempt to phy or feminist theory, such as the 1. The individual should provide a complete overview of a topic, Blackwell Guide to Feminist Philosophy have been born in the but rather offers a brief explanation or the Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories, United States or have and suggestions for further reading. this slim book may be most useful as a had a major portion of For example, her entry on feminist brief, though not inexpensive, glossary her career in the United epistemologies states, “Feminist episte- of feminist philosophy for the general States; mologies arose in response to the femi- reader or for students in introductory 2. The individual’s nist analysis that standard epistemology courses. achievements should may not only not capture all there is to have been important and knowledge and knowledge acquisition, [Jeanne Armstrong is an associate profes- significant in American but that the very underpinnings and sor at Western Washington University theater; methodologies of mainstream episte- and is the librarian liaison for several 3. The individual should mology may be sexist and masculinist” departments and programs, including have been influential in (p.42). McHugh gives some examples Women Studies.] her own lifetime in the of feminist epistemologies, including American theatre; and feminist standpoint theory, feminist 4. A pioneering or empiricism, situated knowledge, and Theater innovative quality should ecological thinking, all of which have have characterized the separate entries in her book, and then Anne L. Fliotsos & Wendy Vierow, individual’s contributions. refers the reader to Feminist Epistemolo- AMERICAN WOMEN STAGE DI- (p.3) gies by Alcoff and Porter for further RECTORS OF THE TWENTIETH reading. This type of approach, almost CENTURY. Champaign, IL: Uni- The introduction toAmerican like that of a glossary, could be useful versity of Illinois Press, 2008. 461p. Women Stage Directors could be consid- to undergraduates who need simple illus. bibl. index. $60.00, ISBN 978- ered a chapter in its own right, cover- explanations of sometimes complicated 0252032264. ing in depth such topics as “Literature and confusing ideologies. on Women Directors,” “Women Man- Since terms for some entries are Reviewed by Chimene Tucker agers,” “Gender Issues,” “Working with not intuitive, users may have difficulty Men,” “Broadway’s Glass Ceiling,” finding what they are looking for. American Women Stage Directors of “Critical Reviews,” and “Getting and For example, one would need to look the Twentieth Century, which chronicles Keeping Work.” under “feminist ethics” or “feminist the personal, professional, and career The entries are alphabetical and epistemologies,” rather than “ethics” influences of fifty American women include the traditional biographical or “epistemologies,” although there are directors, from Libby Apple to Mary information. A list of representative entries for “epistemology of ignorance” Zimmerman, is a must-have reference directorial credits, detailing regional and “ethics of care.” Nor does McHugh work for any institution with a theatre tours and Broadway, Off-Broadway, cross-reference from “ethics” to “femi- and drama department. Off-Off-Broadway, and international nist ethics.” She also has an entry on The authors did not have an easy productions, concludes each entry. reproductive rights that discusses abor- task in assembling this book. Fliostos Fliostos and Vierow explore the works tion, but does not cross-reference from and Vierow note that “[t]he selection of each woman, the direct and indirect “abortion” to “reproductive rights.” of women to be included in this book factors that contributed to her directo- The bibliography, more than thir- was a difficult task, for many artistic rial work, and any historical signifi- teen pages long, includes some seminal directors, actors, choreographers and cance. For example, Muriel Miguel, sources on feminist philosophy but playwrights also direct” (p.3). This “artistic director of Spiderwoman doesn’t mention others, like The Com- is not to say that there are only fifty Theatre, the longest-running women’s panion to Feminist Philosophy (edited women stage directors; on the con- theatre company in North America,” by Jaggar and Young) or the Historical trary, there are far more than that. But was “known for directing productions Dictionary of Feminist Philosophy (by those included met the criteria used that often combine storytelling, song,

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 27 New Reference Works movement, humor and important is- tive capacity or potential” (p.8) (does the transgender community was seeing sues concerning Native Americans and the body produce eggs or sperm?), some erosion of the gains made in the women” (p.287). American Women while “[g]ender is the social organiza- 1960s. In addition, antipathy from the Stage Directors gives the reader a com- tion of different kinds of bodies into homosexual and feminist communities prehensive synopsis of stage directors different categories of people” (p. 11). cost the transgender community many of the twentieth century. I highly She also touches on the concepts of allies. recommend this excellent resource for gender identity, gender role, sexual- Stryker rounds out the book with introductory theater courses. ity, and morphology. The inclusion a look at the current state of the trans- of cisgender and cissexual, two relative gender movement. The strides that [Chimene Tucker is the world history newcomers to the LGBT vocabulary, have been made in legal protections and film & media studies librarian speaks to the currency of the book. for gender identity and expression at at the University of California, Santa “The idea behind the terms is to resist the state and local levels are contrasted Barbara.] the way that ‘woman’ or ‘man’ can with the battle over the Employment mean ‘nontransgendered woman’ or Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S. ‘nontransgendered man’ by default, House of Representatives in 2007. In Transgender Issues unless the person’s transgender status is closing, Stryker says that the future explicitly named” (p.22). looks positive, but there is still a lot left Susan Stryker, TRANSGENDER HIS- Stryker takes us on a journey to do. TORY. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2008. through transgender history that starts 190p. illus. bibl. index. pap., $12.95, in the 1850s. As the U.S. transitioned ISBN 978-1580052245. from a rural to an urban society, trans- gender individuals were able to find a Reviewed by Wayne Gathright measure of peace in the relative ano- nymity of large urban populations. The As someone who identifies as growing influence of medical science in transgender, I approached this volume society was, and still is, a “two-edged with a bit of trepidation, since the sword” (p.36) for the transgender com- books I’ve previously read on trans- munity. Then, as now, the medical gender issues have varied in their ap- establishment could treat a transgender proaches from medically dry to nega- person’s condition, usually at the ex- tively biased. pense of labeling that person mentally Reading the prologue revealed ill. that the author of this Seal Press title Our journey continues into the is a historian by profession. She is also 1960s, a period when the transgender transsexual. This gave me hope that the liberation movement really took off, book would portray the transgender partly because of the dissatisfaction community in a positive light and be many transgender activists felt toward reasonably complete and accurate. I gay rights supporters, who tended knew that chronicling transgender his- to leave the transgender community tory is a journey fraught with many behind in their zeal to push their own I felt the book did a good job of perils. How do you best convey the his- agenda. A number of transgender or- presenting the history of the trans- tory of a movement with such a wide ganizations formed during this time, gender movement. At many points, I variety of players? although only a few have survived to found myself thinking, “Wow. I didn’t Chapter 1 lays out the terms and the present. know that.” However, I was initially a concepts relevant to transgender his- The liberation movement of the bit put off by the intertwining of trans- tory and the transgender community. 1960s turned out to contrast starkly gender history with “feminist thought Stryker’s comparison of the terms sex with the 1970s and 1980s, a period and politics” (p.2). As Stryker states and gender spells out what each word the author describes as the “Difficult on page 3, “One of the goals of this refers to and how the two terms have Decades” (chapter title). Despite the book is to situate transgender social come to be used so interchangeably. establishment of some university- change activism within an expanded “Sex,” she explains, “refers to reproduc- based gender programs in the U.S., feminist framework.” Historically, there

Page 28 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) New Reference Works has been bad blood between feminists Women at Work context and ends with a bibliography and the transgender community. Fe- of other related sources, which range male-to-male transgender individuals Christina Fisanick, ed., WORKING from academic journal articles to pieces have been regarded as abandoning the WOMEN: OPPOSING VIEW- in popular magazines like Essence. Each feminist movement, while male-to-fe- POINTS. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven chapter contains between four and male transgender individuals have been Press, 2008. 241p. bibl. index. $37.40, seven viewpoints, clearly numbered treated as intruders. ISBN 978-0737737714; pap., $25.95, and introduced. For example, within Stryker puts forth the notion that ISBN 978-0737737721. Chapter 4, “Are Working Women there is room within contemporary Good for Families?,” two of the includ- feminism for the transgender com- Reviewed by Nina Clements ed viewpoints are “Working Mothers munity. At least in concept, feminism Are Exploiting Hired Care Givers” and at its core endeavors to “dismantle the “Feminists have made the work- “Working Mothers Are Not Exploiting social structures that created gender- place worse,” wrote Kate O’Beirne in Hired Care Givers.” The viewpoints based oppression” (p.2). Extending Women Who Make the World Worse and themselves — several of which are ex- this idea to the structures that allow How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is cerpts from longer works — are short, discrimination based on a person’s Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, provocative, and easy to read. Fur- transgender status will require some and Sports (Sentinel, 2006, quoted thermore, each viewpoint contains the reexamination of “what constitutes on p.39 of Working Women). Or have citation from its original publication, gender-based oppression” (p.3). they just made it different, as Linda as well as a brief introduction, which I still feel some discomfort with Hirshman, author of the controversial includes information on the author to the concept of transgender activism manifesto Get To Work! (Viking, 2006), give the reader a sense of the author’s within a feminist framework, mainly proclaims? Both viewpoints coexist perspective and credentials. The one because of the past (and in some cases, in Working Women, part of the aptly potential disadvantage of these intro- present) strained relations between named Opposing Viewpoints series. This ductions is that they summarize the the feminist and transgender camps. reference work presents its readers with writers’ arguments, a task that might However, I can see the benefit of the an impressive selection of viewpoints be better left to the reader. The reading two working together toward common in the ongoing debate about women questions included in each viewpoint, goals. The transgender community can in the workforce. It not only addresses however, as well as the discussion ques- learn from the successes and failures current questions, but also places them tions for each chapter and the list of of the feminist movement. Tearing in historical context, often with refer- relevant organizations included at the down the social structures that permit ence to specific incidents or pieces end, make this book a wonderful re- transgender discrimination can benefit of legislation, such as the Family and source for teachers. feminists. Medical Leave Act and its impact on The book is at its best when it cap- I would recommend this book to working mothers. tures the flavor of real debate, as it does anyone interested in transgender issues. This volume is both an excellent when it includes works that respond to launching point for students trying to and reference each other, such as Cyn- [Wayne Gathright is a library services as- understand the debate that continues thia Fuchs Epstein’s response, in Chap- sistant in the Preservation Department of to surround working women and a use- ter 4, to Caitlin Flanagan’s viewpoint the General Library System, UW–Madi- ful resource for instructors, especially that “working women are exploiting son. Wayne volunteers at the local LGBT those teaching first-year seminars or hired care givers” (p.175). center and identifies as a heterosexual introductory gender studies courses. Currency is always a challenge crossdresser.] Each of the book’s four chapters with print resources. Although pub- focuses on a divisive question, such lished in 2008 (released in December as “How Should Working Women 2007), this work’s most recent selec- Better Manage Their Finances?” and tions come from 2007, long before the “What Can Be Done To Help Work- virtual collapse of the U.S. economy, ing Women Balance Work and Fam- which no doubt has affected women ily Life?” Every chapter begins with a in unique and particular ways. Gale/ preface to give the reader some general Greenhaven has created an Oppos-

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 29 New Reference Works ing Viewpoints Resource Center, a of these rights that individuals can and asserting that it is “the first step in database of fulltext articles, reference affect their working conditions, the gender-sensitive strategic and develop- works, and primary sources, which ILO hopes that the information in this ment planning” (p.90). might supplement the print volume book will contribute to the achieve- TheABC is organized alphabetical- with more current information. How- ment of gender equality for all. ly. Each entry gives a concise definition ever, there is an additional cost for the This edition includes updates or description, identifies the pertinent database. about twenty-first-century work ILO conventions and recommenda- Aside from the occasional typo- environments, such as call centers, tions used, and cross-references to graphical error, one of the book’s short- remote working, and teleworking, as other definitions in the book. The for- comings is its emphasis on heterosexual well as a number of new and valuable mat is extremely easy to use. TheABC women and families, with only occa- definitions of political, legal, and so- of Women Workers’ Rights and Gender sional reference to GLBT individuals cioeconomic terms as they pertain to Equality will be a useful guide for stu- and families. Also, despite an article on women workers and gender equality. dents seeking an understanding of the the state of women’s finances in India, Tripartism, for example, is the process social, economic, and political issues the scope of the work is almost entirely of cooperation between governments, related to women workers’ rights and American. Still, this is a provocative employers’ organizations, and work- the promotion of gender equality. and engaging resource, with great po- ers organizations in making decisions tential as a teaching tool. (p.184). Social dialogue includes all [Lauren Christos is an associate librar- types of negotiation and consultation, ian at Florida International University [Nina Clements is a librarian and tech- as well as the simple exchange of infor- in Miami and serves as liaison to the nology consultant at Kenyon College.] mation between or among representa- Women’s Studies Department.] tives of governments, employers, and workers on issues of common interest ABC OF WOMEN WORKERS’ (p.171). The impressive Millennium Women, Gender, & RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUAL- Development Goals are also enumer- Sexuality nd ITY, 2 EDITION. Geneva, Swit- ated: zerland: International Labour Office, Amy Lind & Stephanie Brzuzy, eds., 2007. 209p. pap., $22.95, ISBN 978- 1. Eradicate extreme poverty BATTLEGROUND: WOMEN, 9221196228. and hunger. GENDER, AND SEXUALITY. West- 2. Achieve universal primary port, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. 2 Reviewed by Lauren Christos education. vols. 662p. bibl. index. $175.00, ISBN 3. Promote gender equality 978-0313340376. This revised and greatly expanded and empower women. edition of the ABC of Women Worker’s 4. Reduce child mortality. Reviewed by Beth Strickland Rights and Gender Equality, based on 5. Improve maternal health. How have debates about women, the conventions and recommendations 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, gender, and sexuality been examined of the International Labour Office malaria and other within the discipline of women’s stud- (ILO), offers relevant and informative diseases. ies? How have societal expectations and content as well as detailed definitions 7. Ensure environmental legislation affected the lived realities of and descriptions. sustainability. women within Western society? Can The ILO promotes the fundamen- 8. Develop a global you imagine summing up all of these tal principles of “decent and productive partnership for topics in a 662-page encyclopedia set? working conditions of freedom, equity, development. (p.133) security and human dignity” and as- That is what editors Amy Lind, Associate Professor of Women’s Stud- serts that there “continues to be a gap The book also discussesgender ies, and Stephanie Brzuzy, Associate between the rights set out in national analysis and planning, describing it as Professor of Social Work, ultimately and international standards and the a “tool to diagnose the differences be- accomplish. Decades of discussion and real situation of workers.” Acknowledg- tween women and men regarding their scholarship end up succinctly sum- ing that it is only through awareness specific activities, conditions, needs, access to and control over resources,”

Page 30 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) New Reference Works marized in thirteen main topics and soldier from the American ninety-seven alphabetically arranged military for homosexual entries. Although some of the subtop- conduct was in 1778. ics and larger issues could be viewed as Although it’s not immedi- subjectively determined, the women ately clear where some of and gender scholars for whom this these facts come from, the interdisciplinary resource has been bibliographies at the end designed would be hard-pressed to of each entry are so im- find an integral subject missing. Ad- pressively comprehensive ditionally, each entry includes a list of that it’s easy to determine “see also” index terms to help users find that each entry has been related information. excellently researched. For each topic, both sides of the The comprehensive index debate are presented in an opening provides guidance for paragraph, and each entry, an average finding topics and people of four to eight pages in length, takes a and overall, much like the literature-review approach to discussing set itself, is quite intuitive. a variety of related and often intercon- The editors of this nected subtopics. For example, the encyclopedia clearly want entry for “Same-Sex Marriage” uses a this resource to bring number of sources to define marriage, together a vast body explain the positions of those who do of information into a and do not support same-sex marriage, single work and provide Miriam Greenwald differentiate same-sex marriage from a unique reference about civil unions, and sum up the current women, gender, and sexual- seventy contributors held an advanced status of the debate. Many entries ity. This goal has been achieved; this degree at the time of publication. include case studies that help to con- work can definitely fill a gap in many ceptualize the debate for students who academic reference collections. This is [Beth Strickland is the women’s studies may be unfamiliar with the topic. especially true for undergraduate col- librarian at the University of Michigan. Entries about topics with more of lections, where Battleground might be She holds an M.L.I.S. from the Uni- a legislative history tend to include a the best fit. Whether or not the editors versity of Denver, as well as an M.A. in timeline, and they often present facts have achieved their goal of producing women’s studies from San Diego State not commonly known. “Lesbians and a resource filled with expert input is University.] Gays in the Military,” for example, itself debatable, however, since only mentions that the first dismissal of a about eighty percent of the more than

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 31 Periodical Notes

Magazines for Tween Girls in stores): $5.50. Issues examined: Volume 16, Number 1 (September/October 2008); Volume 16, Number 4 (March/ What’s a “tween”? FreeDictionary.com says, “A child April 2009). between middle childhood and adolescence, usually between Mission (from inside cover of magazine): “New Moon 8 and 12 years old.” One of our girls’ studies reviewers in Girls™ is the original girl-centered media. Girl editors, writ- 2007 reported on a dissertation about “tween queens” that ers, filmmakers and artists from around the world are in “traces the coalescence of eight- to fourteen-year-old girls charge of all our content, working with adults through our into a recognized and consequently recognizable marketing pioneering Share the Power method. New Moon Girls pro- demographic” (Lisa Mae Schlosser, “Mass Marketing and vides innovative, safe, respectful, and advertising-free spaces Our Daughters,” Feminist Collections v.28, no.4, Summer– online and in the magazine where girls develop their full Fall 2007). The specified age range varies (5–12? 10–15?), potential through self-discovery, creativity, and community. but belief in the existence of a measurable and describable New Moon Girls is for every girl who wants her voice heard population now seems universal. A simple Google search for and her dreams taken seriously in the world.” the phrase “tween girls” gets 158,000 hits: some of the sites Age range targeted: 8–12. offer parenting advice or insight about psychosocial develop- Advertising? No. ment, and many are about marketing, shopping, and gift Focus on popular culture? No; rather on current issues ideas (clothes, books, video games, movies, etc.). and events of significance, as well as on the interests, feel- The four magazines described below are all intended for ings, and opinions of the target audience. girls in the age ranges that are often described as “tween,” Content by girls? Yes, lots. In addition to a having an even if they don’t use the label. Some of them are decid- editorial board of eight-to-twelve-year-olds who “help decide edly non-marketing-oriented, however (three do not accept what goes in every issue of the magazine...choose themes, advertising), and all of them appear to have the affirmation, story ideas, cover artwork, article submissions, and...edit and healthy development, safety, and empowerment of girls in consult on the graphic design and look of the magazine,” this age range as goals, at least implicitly. New Moon Girls publishes letters, advice, poetry, artwork, Over the past couple of years, I’ve informally tested book reviews, and feature articles by girls. Some articles are samples of these magazines on the tween girl in my life, my by adults, but girl-written content predominates. now-ten-year-old goddaughter. She seems to like them all, Online presence? Yes, with chats, message boards, scooping up copies to read whenever I have them around, stories, polls, quizzes, stories, and features, at http://www. and asking for them when I don’t. She gravitates toward two newmoongirls.com; full participation requires paid and in particular, and will say that she likes those two best, but screened membership/subscription and is fully moderated can’t — or perhaps just doesn’t want to — articulate why. for safety. (I’ll tell you which two at the end of this review.) Partial contents of issues examined: The September/Oc- tober 2008 issue featured the theme “Things That Go Bump NEW MOON GIRLS (formerly NEW MOON: THE in the Night,” with special articles “Lights Out! Are You Still MAGAZINE FOR GIRLS AND THEIR DREAMS). Counting Sheep?” (on sleep disorders); “Haunted: Spooky 1993– . 49p. CEO and Founder, New Moon Media: Nancy Sightings From Around the World”; and “The Ghost Story: Gruver. Executive editor: Michele St. Martin. Managing From Custom to Campfire”; also, travel in Alaska, life in editor: Heather Parfitt. Girls editorial board: 15 members as Ethiopia, the history of the Salem witch trials, an interview of latest issue. ISSN: 1069-238X. 6/yr. Subscriptions: listed with a spiritual medium, how to manage mood swings on masthead as $44.95 for one-year “membership” that through puberty, and the science of vampire bats. The April/ includes six print issues plus twelve-month access to on- May 2009 issue (downloadable in full as a PDF from the line, screened community at NewMoonGirls.com; current website) focuses on names, with feature articles “What’s In offer for full membership for just $29.95 athttp://www. a Name? New Moon Girls’ Stories” and “Undercover! Un- newmoon.com/offer/. Single copies of print magazine (sold masking Famous Names”; also, a piece on girls’ education in Pakistan by the young daughter of the author of Three Cups of Tea; “Heart & Seoul: My Life in South Korea”; a “hersto-

Page 32 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Periodical Notes ry” piece on Russian “missing duchess” Anastasia Romanov; clothing, and pens. Online sponsorships: a religious website, how to cope with the leg pain that accompanies growing; the HHS site on girls’ health, an arts-and-crafts supplier, and and “The Chemistry of Food.” Both issues have peer-written book publishers. advice columns, poetry and art by girls, a place to sound off Focus on popular culture? Yes: fashion, interviews with about both empowering and “aggravating” things that affect girl celebrities, reviews of popular music and movies (as well girls and women, fiction, and a discussion-starting column as books), discussions of crushes and challenging social situ- (“Voice Box”) about potentially controversial (yes!) issues, ations, even “IM talk” (text code used in instant messaging). such as how people deal with last names when they marry Such content is used, however, to promote independence, and whether violence in movies is bad for kids. empowerment, wise and healthy choices, honesty, friend- My take on this magazine: The most progressive and ship, and other positive values. explicitly feminist of the four (but not politically partisan); Content by girls? Yes. For every issue, a dozen girls from also deals with “serious” issues — e.g., eating disorders, dis- a different state or region — allDG readers between ages crimination, global awareness, emotional distress — with eight and twelve — are selected to spend a weekend together the most depth. I’ve known about and loved New Moon for having fun, making friends, and writing and modeling for years, and have eagerly awaited the confluence of there being the magazine. (Only “real girls” are used as models; no pro- a tween girl in my life who would like it and my being able fessionals.) DG readers write letters for “Mailbag,” questions to afford a gift subscription for her. I also like very much the for “Ask Ali” (to be answered by an apparently grownup ad- adjunct material provided at www.daughters.com for par- vice columnist), peer advice for “Matters of the Heart,” ex- ents and other adults in girls’ lives. amples for “Embarrassing Moments,” and “The Worst Day” (full-length article by a girl about dealing with a difficult DISCOVERY GIRLS: A MAGAZINE CREATED BY situation), and respond to surveys. GIRLS, FOR GIRLS. 2000– . 56p. Founder, publisher, & Online presence? Yes, at www.DiscoveryGirls.com; managing director: Catherine Lee. Editorial director: Sarah goes beyond subscription information to include online Verney. ISSN: 1535-3230. 6/yr. Subscriptions: listed as polls, calls for contributions, a news blog, excerpts from the $22.95 on masthead; $19.95 ordered online at http://www. print magazine, and ordering information for related publi- discoverygirls.com/subscribe. Single copies (sold in stores): cations. $4.50. Customer service: Discovery Girls, P.O. Box 420235, Partial contents of issues examined: “Fix Your Friend- Palm Court, FL 32142-0235. Editorial offices: San Jose, ship Problems: Clingy friends, copycats, drama queens...and CA. Issues examined: Volume 8, Number 3 (April/May more”; Dare Yourself To Fail: Forget ‘failure,’ and soak up 2008); Volume 8, Number 6 (October/November 2008). these secrets to success”; “Fashion: What’s the Best Swimsuit Mission: From “Message from the Founder”: “I for You?”; “China: My Birth Home: Ming visits the orphan- started Discovery Girls when my daughter Alexa was eight, age she was adopted from—in China”; “Humor: Top 10 because I wanted her middle-school years to be different Ways to Know You’re Too Shy: Laugh your way out of your from mine. When I was that age, I’d often felt alone. It shell!”; “Cliques: Are They Good or Bad?”; “Sticky Friend- wasn’t until years later that I realized that other girls went ship Situations”; “Five Days of Styles!” (hairstyles); “What through confusing times and struggled to fit in, too — I just Cheating Does to You: The real consequences...caught hadn’t known it back then.” From website information for or not.” Also, “What Do Your Friends Love About You?” librarians: “Discovery Girls makes the transition from little (quiz); crafts; book, video, and music reviews; advice from girl to teenager a whole lot easier by showing girls ages 8 and celebrities about school situations; answers to health and up they’re not the only ones with so many questions, doubts, beauty questions (“How often should I shower?” “What’s and confusing feelings.” From “About Us” on the page for the best way to grow out my bangs?”); “Election Results: potential advertisers: “Discovery Girls magazine is created by Find out who won the DG election!” (for U.S. president), and for girls ages 7 to 13! It celebrates girls’ uniqueness and along with readers’ responses to “Great Debate” question, inspires them to believe in themselves. ‘Real’ girls model, “Should kids be allowed to vote for president?”; “I Thought write for, and help create the magazine. With articles on I Was Ugly” (by a twelve-year-old, about self-acceptance); school challenges, sports, fashion, technology, and more, it’s “What Do You Bring to Your Team? What Kind of Player a great resource for girls and their parents.” Are You?”; suggestions for saving the environment; and Age range targeted: 8 and up. “Great Debate” answers to “Are Girls Meaner Than Boys?” Advertising? Yes, but small percentage of total content. Ads in issues examined were for books, toys, video games,

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 33 Periodical Notes

My take on this magazine: I applaud the founder’s ily moments, jokes, examples of giving thanks), but also one motivation to create the kind of magazine she wanted her feature article per issue by a girl. daughter to have. Although part of me wonders why she Online presence? Yes; http://www.americangirl.com/ didn’t just get Alexa a subscription to New Moon, I certainly fun.html offers magazine-related activities as well as unre- see the appeal of what she has come up with — and so, ap- lated “Fun for Girls,” including games, quizzes, e-cards, and parently, can DG’s 800,000 readers. It’s certainly more pop material related to AG dolls/characters. and mainstream than New Moon, but quite commendable in Partial contents of issues examined: crafts (includ- its approach to girls’ feelings and problems, and it promotes ing suggestions for “green” gifts to make), puzzles, fiction, healthy choices and positive values (one column discussed “What would you do?” quizzes, celebrations of girls doing why gossip is hurtful and how to avoid participating in it). volunteer work, reflections on friendship, themed activ- All of the “real Discovery Girls” chosen to pose for photos ity calendars with stickers (“Earth Day Challenge” in April in the issues I examined are cute, trendy, and photogenic 2008), letters to the editor, advice column, animal posters to — they have model potential even though they are not (yet) cut out. professional models — but at least there is some racial/eth- My take on this magazine: An O.K. choice for those nic diversity. The amount of talk about “crushes” gave me who like the glossiness and format of Discovery Girls but pause at first, but it does seem to be simple, age-appropriate, would prefer less attention to pop culture; or who want the and realistic and to come from the girls themselves (“I was “wholesome fun” approach of Hopscotch with a little more embarrassed when I slipped and fell right in front of him, “real-world” modern focus. The magazine offers nothing and now he laughs when he sees me!”). Overall, I view Dis- objectionable, and there’s plenty of healthy, girl-affirming covery Girls positively; it certainly is a hit with the ten-year- content; but I don’t find it exceptional or cutting-edge.AG old I know best. is the only one of the girls’ periodicals here to have been started by a commercial company. I was pleasantly surprised, AMERICAN GIRL. 1992– . 49p. ISSN: 1062-7812. Edito- however, to find no product focus or promotion in the mag- rial director: Michelle Nowadly Watkins. Executive editor: azine. Although American Girl magazine probably gets some Kristi Thom. Published by American Girl Publishing, Inc., subscribers through product name recognition (what girl in 8400 Fairway Place, Middleton, WI 53562; email: reader- this country doesn’t at least know about the AG dolls, books, [email protected]; website: www.americangirl.com. or movies?), a subscriber who doesn’t own a Kit or Addy 6/yr. Subscriptions: $22.95. Single copies (sold in stores): or Chrissa or Sonali will not feel left out. (There’s plenty of $4.50. Customer service: (800) 234-1278. Issues examined: product promotion on the website, but a lot else as well.) Volume 16, Number 2 (April 2008); Volume 16, Number 6 (December 2008). HOPSCOTCH FOR GIRLS. 1989– . 49p. ISSN: 1044- Mission (from the website): “‘You’re great—just the way 0488. 6/yr. Subscriptions: $32.95. Single copies (many back you are!’ That’s the messageAmerican Girl magazine delivers issues sold online at http://funforkidzmagazines.com/ to more than 620,000 girls every other month. In a culture back-issues/hopscotch-issues): $5.95. Editor: Marilyn Ed- that often encourages girls to grow up too quickly, American wards. Published by Bluffton New Publishing and Printing Girl, created especially for girls 8 and up, is an age-appropri- Co., P.O. Box 164, Bluffton, OH 45817. Issues examined: ate alternative to teen magazines. Designed to affirm self-es- Volume 16, Number 6 (April/May 2005); Volume 18, teem, celebrate achievements, and foster creativity, American Number 5 (February/March 2007). Girl’s message is one of support and positive reinforcement Mission: The “Statement of Purpose” printed on the during these critical years.” inside front cover of the issues examined begins with “Instill Age range targeted: 8 and up. traditional family values in elementary-age girls,” and goes Advertising? No, not even for AG company products. on to list other goals such as self-esteem and self-confidence, Focus on popular culture? No; rather on fun, whole- sensitivity and kindness, literacy, education, and inspira- some activities, education, and “personal” (more than soci- tion. The magazine’s website also includes such statements as etal/global) concerns, such as friendship, organizing clutter, these: “Hopscotch is a family effort in supplying wholesome wearing glasses, coping with adversity (broken bone, cancer). reading material for all young girls. Its readership includes Content by girls? Yes, mostly through letters and brief children as young as three or four, whose parents read the solicited contributions on specific topics (embarrassing fam- stories and do the activities with them, to girls up to age 14 years. Although the target reading level is geared for ages 8

Page 34 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Periodical Notes to 10, many older girls enjoy reading the content which does “Unusual Careers,” including engineering and condor-keep- not include material about boyfriends, makeup, fashion, ing. The publishers may be conservative, and the magazine fads, or anything that would encourage girls to grow up too seems to be popular among homeschooled girls who list fast... Hopscotch was created to challenge young girls…chal- “Jesus” among their interests in the pen-pal section, but lenge them to enjoy and make the utmost of those few and there does not appear to be any effort to proselytize, about precious years of childhood... looks for articles, fiction, either faith or politics. Avoidance of popular culture and nonfiction, and poetry that deal with timeless topics, such as “teen themes” and a focus on simple childhood fun seem pets, nature, hobbies, science, games, sports, careers, simple to help this publication steer clear of controversial issues, cooking, and anything else likely to interest a young girl. which I appreciate on the one hand, while finding the result We leave dating, romance, human sexuality, cosmetics, fash- rather sterile on the other, especially since there seems also ion, and the like to other publications. Each issue revolves to be no discussion of girls’ feelings, problems, and opinions around a theme.” (perhaps those would be considered “teen themes”?). I have Age range targeted: approximately 5-14. no qualms about sharing this magazine with the children of Advertising? None. my decidedly progressive and non-Christian friends, even Content by girls? None, except for “Letters” column though it’s not all I’d want to share. The puzzles and science and penpal requests. experiments are accessible. The “poetry,” unfortunately, is Attention to popular culture? None, by design. forgettable, sing-song-ish verse — and apparently written by Online presence? Mostly information about magazine grownups. subscriptions and back-issue sales, as well as information for contributors, at http://funforkidzmagazines.com/. My goddaughter’s favorites, and the two she’d pick to Partial contents of issues examined: The April/May subscribe to? American Girl and Discovery Girls, hands down. 2005 issue has an “Art for Girls” theme, with stories about Why those? “I don’t know.” She doesn’t seem to dislike the Mary Engelbreit, Claude Monet, Emily Carr, Georgia others; in fact, in filling out a short questionnaire about O’Keeffe, Rosa Bonheur, cartoon artist Grace G. Drayton, each one, she put more thought and effort into commenting historical silhouette painting, and the “science of color” be- about New Moon (“I like how they let girls share a whole lot hind impressionist painting, and a how-to column on draw- of their feelings,”) and Hopscotch (“It’s just plain fun and it’s ing animals. February/March 2007 featured “Dolls,” with spook[y] in some of them” and “It couldn’t have been bet- a Civil War–era story, an introduction to the Greiner head ter”) than about her first picks (“It’s fun,” “It’s funny,” “It’s dolls of 1860, the histories of paper dolls and Strawberry great,” and a lot of one-word answers, like “Yes” to “Would Shortcake dolls, a look at Japan’s traditional Doll Festival you recommend this magazine to a friend?”). No doubt and a California dollhouse museum, and instructions for that reflected, in part, her decreasing interest in completing making several kinds of simple dolls. Regular features in worksheets as time wore on. But attempts at dinner-table many issues are science experiments, recipes, “Girl Power” discussion also led nowhere (“Do you like American Girl comics, a knot-tying column, letters from readers, and a better because you have an American Girl doll?” “No; I just pen-pal club; also, word puzzles that reflect the theme of the like it; I don’t know why”). It may also reflect an unarticu- issue. lated taste for glossier, slicker magazines with more photos My take on this magazine: The stated purpose of in- than drawings and (in the case of DG) more references to stilling “traditional family values” made me nervous at the pop culture and fashion. outset. But aside from occasionally clunky writing and some It’s O.K. with me. She can have all the samples to keep irritating typos and punctuation errors, I cannot find any- now that this review is done, and I might even buy her more thing objectionable in the issues I’ve read. There really is no issues of AG and DG in the future. I’ll still have my say, anti-feminist content or slant that I can see, and the articles though: Her first magazine gift subscription from me will be featuring and celebrating historical women going against tra- for New Moon Girls. ditional gender roles to follow their hearts in their vocational choices are commendable. There’s plenty of talk about dolls and cooking, but there are also regular science experiments and a “girl power” comic strip showing strong girls partici- pating in adventurous activities. An issue I did not have the opportunity to examine was slated to have the theme

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 35 Periodical Notes

New and Newly Discovered Periodicals Special Issues of Periodicals

BREAST CANCER ACTION SOURCE. 1990– . News- Annual Review of Critical Psychology letter of Breast Cancer Action, “a national education and no.4 (2005): “Feminisms and Activisms.” Issue editors: Alex- activist organization that challenges assumptions and andra Zavos, Barbara Biglia, Jude Clark, & Johanna Motz- inspires change to end the breast cancer epidemic.” 4/yr. kau. Managing editor: Ian Parker (email: I.A.Parker@mmu. Online only (earlier issues in print); free, but registration is ac.uk). Publisher (beginning with publication of ARCP required to read issues. Website: http://bcaction.org/index. Online (open-access journal) in 2006; also providing online php?page=newsletter. PDFs of previous print issues of ARCP): The Discourse In the online Spring 2009 issue, read about environ- Unit, “a trans-institutional collaborative centre, currently mental racism, why breast cancer shouldn’t be called a located at Manchester Metropolitan University, which sup- “chronic” disease, and the hot topics presented and discussed ports a variety of qualitative and theoretical research proj- at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in 2008; also, ects contributing to the development of radical theory and Ellen Leopold’s Under the Radar: Cancer and the Cold War is practice”; website: http://www.discourseunit.com/. ISSN reviewed. Archived back issues are also available. 1746-739X. Special issue at http://www.discourseunit. com/arcp/4.htm. EARLY MODERN WOMEN: AN INTERDISCIPLIN- Partial contents: “The Great Fresco Painting of the ARY JOURNAL. 2006– . Editors: Jane Donawerth, Adele Italian Feminist Movement,” by Sveva Magaraggia, Chiara Seeff, Diane Wolfthal. Co-sponsored by the Center for Re- Martucci & Francesca Pozzi; “It Takes Two: Glimpses of naissance & Baroque Studies at the University of Maryland the Creative Youth Workshop Project of Thrace,” by Anni and the Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies. Vassiliou & Tina Ligdopoulou; “Trafficking in Women,” ISSN 1933-0065. 1/yr. Subscriptions: $35.00 regular in by Giota Touloumi; “Contesting Femininity: Women in U.S.; $20.00 student in U.S.; $40.00 outside U.S.; Center the Political Transition in Venezuela,” by Isabel Rodriguez for Renaissance & Baroque Studies, 0139 Taliaferro Hall, Mora; “Family Resistances: Women, War and the Family University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; email: in the African Great Lakes,” by Ingrid Palmary; “On Con- [email protected]. Issues examined: Fall 2006 (Vol- flict, Gender and Nationalism in Cypriot Society: Beliefs ume 1), Fall 2007 (Volume 2), Fall 2008 (Volume 3). and Contradictions,” by Vassiliki Katrivanou; “Images of Partial contents of the first three volumes of “the first Women and Drugs,” by Ilana Mountian; “Sonic Cyborgs? annual journal devoted solely to the study of women and Engendering Dissonance and Resistance in Popular Music,” gender in the early modern period, that is, from 1400 to by Nancy Böttner; “Exploring New Ways of Insubmission 1700”: “Maladies up Her Sleeve? Clerical Interpretation of a in Social Representation,” by Grup de Lesbianes Feministes; Suffering Female Body in Counter-Reformation Spain,” by “The Role of the Role: Women as Prisoners or Prisoners as Susan Laningham; “Suppressing Women Philosophers: The Women?” by Faidra Papadimiotriou; “Women at the Mar- Case of the Early Modern Canon,” by John J. Conley; “A gins: Me, Borderline Personality Disorder and Women at the Renaissance Woman (Still) Adrift in the World,” by Merry Margins,” by Clare Shaw; “Becoming a Psychologist: Profes- E. Wiesner-Hanks; “The Breast and Belly of a Queen: Eliza- sionalism, Feminism, Activism,” by Jane Callaghan; “When beth After Tilbury,” by Christopher Martin; “The Domini- Faith and Good Will Is Not Enough: Researcher Positions cans and Cloistered Women: The Convent of Sant’Aurea in in Interactive Research with School Children,” by Tina Jen- Rome,” by Anne Dunlop; “Back Talk: Two Prostitutes’ Voic- sen; “Housewives, Maids, Cleaning Ladies and Caregivers es from Rome c. 1600,” by Elizabeth S. Cohen; “Inscribing in General: Care in the Communication Continuum,” by Gender on the Early Modern Body: Marital Violence in Precarias a la Deriva. Also included are poetry and “inter- German Texts of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century,” by relating notes” (comments by contributors on the others’ Katja Altpeter-Jones; “Forum: The Rise of the Mercantile contributions). Economy and Early Modern Women” (consisting of six arti- cles and an introduction). Also, exhibition reviews; abstracts JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY CHINA v.16, no.50, from prize-winning student papers; lists of recent publica- February 2007: Special section: “Colloquium on Women tions in the field. Book reviews in every volume. and Policy and Institutional Change in Rural China: Part II”: “focuses on policies and institutions affecting geogra- phies of gendered power in China.” Colloquium editor: Sal-

Page 36 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Periodical Notes ly Sargeson. ISSN: 1067-0564. Publisher: Routledge/Taylor Partial contents: “Theorizing and Researching Inter- & Francis Group. Available online to licensed users through sectionality: A Challenge for Feminist Geography,” by Gill Academic Search Elite, Informaworld Journals, ProQuest Valentine; “Affecting Geospatial Technologies: Toward a Research Library, and Corporate ResourceNet. Feminist Politics of Emotion,” by Mei-Po Kwan; “Feminist Partial contents: “Marriage Migration in China and Geopolitics Revisited: Body Counts in Iraq,” by Jennifer East Asia,” by Delia Davin; “Village to Distant Village: The Hyndman; “On the Relationship Between Queer and Femi- Opportunities and Risks of Long-Distance Marriage Migra- nist Geographies,” by Larry Knopp. tion in Rural China,” by Laurel Bossen; “Chinese Women in Rural-Urban Transition: Surrogate Brothers or Agents of MATERIAL RELIGION: THE JOURNAL OF OBJECTS, Their Own Fate?” by Flemming Christiansen; “A Case Study ART AND BELIEF v.3, no.1, March 2007: Special issue: on the Settlement of Rural Women Affected by Land Requi- “Gendering Religious Objects.” Issue editors: Roger Ivar sitioning in China,” by Lou Peimin. Lohmann & Susan Starr Sered. ISSN: 1743-2200. Publish- er: Berg. Available online to licensed users through Art Full JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES v.43, no.2, Text and Academic Search Elite. February 2007: Special section: “Islam and Female Identity Partial contents: “Bottles Are Men, Glasses Are Woman: in the Middle East.” ISSN: 1743-9140 (electronic), 0022- Religion, Gender, and Secular Objects,” by Stewart Guthrie; 0388 (paper). Publisher: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. “Gendered Substances and Objects in Ritual: An Australian Available online to licensed users through Informaworld Aboriginal Study,” by Deborah Bird Rose; “House, Fire, Journals and Ingenta Connect Routledge. Gender,” by Bilinda Straight; “‘Moveable Feast of Signs’: Partial contents: “Women, Wars, Citizenship, Migra- Gender in Zar in Central Sudan,” by Susan M. Kenyon; “A tion, and Identity: Some Illustrations from the Middle Ritual Garment, the Synagogue and Gender Questions,” by East,” by Haleh Afshar; “Women, Religion and the ‘Afghan Ayala Emmett; “Sound of a Woman: Drums, Gender, and Education Movement’ in Iran,” by Homa Hoodfar; “Gen- Myth among the Asabano of Papua New Guinea,” by Roger der, Agency and Identity, the Case of Afghan Women in Ivar Lohmann; “Afterword — Gendering Religious Objects: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran,” by Elaheh Rostami-Povey; Placing Them as Agents in Matrices of Power,” by Janet “Evaluating 35 Years of Green Revolution Technology in Hoskins. Villages of Bulandshahr District, Western UP, North India,” by Kathleen Baker & Sarah Jewitt. ransition PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER v.59, no.1, February T 2007: Special section: “Focus: Feminism and Social Theory TheWOMEN’S STUDIES JOURNAL, published since in Geography.” Section editors: Karen Dias & Jennifer Ble- 1984 by the New Zealand Women’s Studies Association, is cha . ISSN: 1467-9272 (electronic), 0033-0124 (paper). online only and free of charge at http://www.wsanz.org.nz, Journal of the Association of American Geographers. Pub- beginning with Volume 22 Number 1 (November 2008). lisher: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. Available online (Also available through the EBSCO electronic literature to licensed users through Informaworld Journals and Wiley database.) Interscience. Compiled by JoAnne Lehman

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 37 Items of Note

Professor Bettina Aptheker’s INTRODUCTION TO FEMI- Isis International has released its 60-page 2007 NISMS course at the University of California Santa Cruz ANNUAL REPORT, which summarizes that year’s activities was so popular that her seventeen class lectures — an entire and publications in five parts. The section on Project Area 1, academic quarter — were recorded in 2003 and are now “Community and Independent Media,” reports on publica- available to the public on DVD. The topics covered include tions and other media, such as Women in Action and Women “Women and Honor”; “Anger, Lying, and Silence”; “Wom- Making Airwaves for Peace; the report for Project Area 2, en, Immigration, and the Global Economy”; and “The Poli- the “Governance, Communications & Democracy” (GCD) tics of Rape.” The complete set of seventeen DVDs can be program, summarizes feminist action research; research, purchased for $20 via a link from http://www.introtofem. training and documentation support services; and GCD org. feminist interventions, such as a workshop on “Feminist Po- litical Ecology”; the Project Area 3 report summarizes efforts A new website has been created to support the MDG3 in “Feminist Movement Building”; and the Project Area GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION campaign for the third 4 report summarizes the organizational development and Millennium Development Goal (MDG3): gender equality administration of Isis. The last section of the annual report and economic empowerment for women. The site, athttp:// presents the organization’s financial audit. Contact Isis Inter- www.mdg3action.org, details the campaign’s focus, explains national for information on obtaining the report: 3 Marun- why the campaign is necessary, and discusses the Millen- ong Street, Bgy. Central, Quezon City, 1100 Philippines; nium Declaration and some problems with the measures email: [email protected]; website: www.isiswomen.org. used in the Declaration. To help individuals and organiza- tions become more involved in the fight for gender equality, The AFRICAN WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT AND the site provides film clips, downloadable items (such as a COMMUNICATION NETWORK (FEMNET), with fi- pamphlet), and links for further information. nancial support from the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (HIVOS), produced GENDER IMPACTS OF REVENUE COLLECTION two booklets in 2007 concerning advocacy for sexual and IN UGANDA and GENDER IMPACTS OF REVENUE reproductive health rights in Africa: the ADVOCACY KIT: COLLECTION IN INDIA are two new working papers SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS in the Economic Paper Series (#84 and #81, respectively) and the ADVOCACY TRAINING MANUAL: SEXUAL from the Commonwealth Secretariat. In GENDER IM- REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS, both compiled by PACTS OF REVENUE COLLECTION IN UGANDA, Pauline Nyamweya. TheAdvocacy Kit defines words used Nite Tanzarn analyzes the revenue and tax system in Uganda in the discussion of sexual and reproductive health (such in order to show policy makers “how government revenue as “reproductive health” and “gender integration”), defines collection practices affect men and women differently,” and and discusses the need for advocacy, and proposes strategies. gives suggestions on including gender awareness in financial TheAdvocacy Training Manual is a handbook for trainers of policy. GENDER IMPACTS OF REVENUE COLLEC- advocacy for sexual reproductive health rights. It includes TION IN INDIA, by Nirmala Banerjee, is a similar case guidelines for an entire session of advocacy training and study of the revenue and tax system in India. The aim of the sample handouts and evaluation forms. Contact FEMNET paper is to show the different effects of taxation on men and for information on obtaining these materials, either by email women to “those responsible for planning the tax system.” to [email protected] or by mail to KUSCCO Center, These papers are available for £15 each for the paperbound Kilimaniaro Road off Mara Road in Upper Hill, P. O. Box version, or £12 for an e-book, at http://publications. 54562, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya. thecommonwealth.org/gender-impacts-of-revenue-col- lection-in-uganda-661-p.aspx and http://publications. In 2006, the UN Millennium Project published a 179-page thecommonwealth.org/gender-impacts-of-revenue-collec- report on the relationship between sexual and reproductive tion-in-india-653-p.aspx. health and the UN Millennium Development Goals, titled PUBLIC CHOICES, PRIVATE DECISIONS: SEXUAL

Page 38 Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Items of Note

AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND THE MILLEN- by the Foundation. The report is available as a free PDF NIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, by Stan Berstein with download at http://www.wwhf.org/documents/Reporton- Charlotte Juul Hansen. The report outlines the Millennium WomensHealthinWisconsin2008.pdf. To order by mail, Development Goals (MDGs), which are described as “the download an order form from http://www.wwhf.org/Re- world’s quantified targets for dramatically reducing extreme portonWomensHealth.asp and fax it to (608) 251-4136 or poverty in its many dimensions by 2015 — income poverty, mail it to 2503 Todd Drive, Madison, WI 53713. A check hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter for a donation of $5 to cover shipping is welcome, but not — while promoting gender equality, education, health, and required. environmental sustainability”; and discusses the current status of the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) aspect of JEWISH WOMEN ARTISANS AROUND THE WORLD the MDGs and how progress is measured, the impact that is a 2008–2009 wall calendar released by the Hadassah- ensuring SRH would have on each of the goals, and what is Brandeis Institute, celebrating Jewish women artisans. For needed to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive each month, there is a short profile on an artist and a full- health rights. The full report in PDF, as well as executive color image of one of her pieces. Each month’s calendar also summaries (in English, French, and Spanish and back- identifies “U.S. national and Jewish holidays, candle lighting ground papers, is available for free at http://www.unmillen- times, and weekly Torah portions.” This calendar is available niumproject.org/reports/srh_main.htm for $10.00 (check or money order payable to the Hadassah- Brandeis Institute) from the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, TheREPORT ON WOMEN’S HEALTH IN WISCON- Brandeis University, MS 079, Waltham, MA 02454-9110. SIN 2008, published by the Wisconsin Women’s Health You may also purchase the HBI calendar with a credit card Foundation, gives statistics on Wisconsin women’s health by calling the Brandeis University Bookstore at (781) 736- risks, including such illnesses as cancer and cardiovascular 4272. disease as well as other health threats such as domestic abuse, mental illness, and tobacco and alcohol use. It also includes Compiled by Amy Dachenbach brief reports from the recipients of research grants given

Feminist Collections (v.30, no.1, Winter 2009) Page 39 Books Recently Received

2009 DIRECTORY OF WOMEN’S MEDIA. Allen, REVENGE OF THE WOMEN’S STUDIES Martha Leslie and Korte, Andrea, eds. Women’s Institute for PROFESSOR. Morris, Bonnie J. Indiana University Press, Freedom of the Press, 2008. 2009. ARAB WOMEN WRITERS: A CRITICAL REFERENCE A REVISED INFORMATION & ADVOCACY KIT FOR GUIDE 1873–1999. Ashour, Radwa and others, eds. SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS. McClure, Mandy , trans. American University in Cairo African Women’s Development and Communication Press, 2008. Network (FEMNET). 2008. BOTH RIGHT AND LEFT HANDED: ARAB WOMEN REVISED TRAINING MANUAL ON SEXUAL AND TALK ABOUT THEIR LIVES. Shaaban, Bouthaina. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS. African Women’s Indiana University Press, 2009. rev. ed. Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). 2008. THE FALLING AGE OF PUBERTY IN U.S. GIRLS: WHAT WE KNOW, WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW. SEEING WITNESS: VISUALITY AND THE ETHICS Steingraber, Sandra. Breast Cancer Fund, 2007. OF TESTIMONY. Blocker, Jane. University of Minnesota Press, 2009. FINDING OUT: AN INTRODUCTION TO LGBT STUDIES. Meem, Deborah T., Gibson, Michelle A., and THREE WOMEN OF LIÈGE: A CRITICAL EDITION Alexander, Jonathan F. SAGE, 2009. OF AND COMMENTARY ON THE MIDDLE ENGLISH LIVES OF ELIZABETH OF SPALBEEK, I GO TO AMERICA: SWEDISH AMERICAN WOMEN CHRISTINA MIRABILIS, AND MARIE D’OIGNIES. AND THE LIFE OF MINA ANDERSON. Lintelman, Joy Brown, Jennifer N. Brepols, 2008. K. Minnesota Historical Society, 2009. WHO DECIDES? THE STATUS OF WOMEN’S INTERDISCIPLINARY VIEWS ON ABORTION: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES. ESSAYS FROM PHILOSOPHICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL, Naral Pro-Choice America & Naral Pro-Choice America ANTHROPOLOGICAL, POLITICAL, HEALTH AND Foundation. 2007. OTHER PERSPECTIVES. Martinelli–Fernandez, Susan A. and others, eds. McFarland, 2009. THE WIDOWS’ MIGHT: WIDOWHOOD AND GENDER IN EARLY BRITISH AMERICA. Conger, MAKING MARRIAGE MODERN: WOMEN’S Vivian Bruce. New York University Press, 2009. SEXUALITY FROM THE PROGRESSIVE ERA TO WORLD WAR II. Simmons, Christina. Oxford University WOMEN AND POLITICS AROUND THE WORLD: A Press, 2009. COMPARATIVE HISTORY AND SURVEY. Gelb, Joyce and Palley, Marian Lief, eds. ABC-CLIO, 2009. MRS. DRED SCOTT: A LIFE ON SLAVERY’S FRONTIER. VanderVelde, Lea. Oxford, 2009. WOMEN IN THE SPANISH NOVEL TODAY: ESSAYS ON THE REFLECTION OF SELF IN THE WORKS OF NATURAL LIBERTY: REDISCOVERING SELF- THREE GENERATIONS. Kietrys, Kyra A. and Linares, INDUCED ABORTION METHODS. Sage-Femme Montserrat, eds. McFarland, 2009. Collective. Sage-Femme, 2008. WOMEN TENNIS STARS: BIOGRAPHIES AND NO GIRLS IN THE CLUBHOUSE: THE EXCLUSION RECORDS OF CHAMPIONS, 1800S TO TODAY. OF WOMEN FROM BASEBALL. Cohen, Marilyn. Phillips, Dennis J. McFarland, 2009. McFarland, 2009.

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