Women - both within and without the United States - are being dramatically affected by war as currently waged by that country. But there has been little... public space for dialogue about the complex relationship between feminism, women, and U.S. war. The editors have brought together a diverse set of scholars and activists who examine the questions raised by ongoing U.S. military initiatives. These theorists and organizers develop an anti-racist, feminist politics that brings to the foreground an analysis both of imperialist power and forms of resistance to it.  The questions they raise include: what are the implications of an imperial nation state laying claim to women's liberation and did U.S. intervention and invasion in fact result in liberation for women in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Addressing religion and feminism on a global scale, this unprecedented book contains a nuanced and fine-tuned treatment of seven of the world's... religions from a feminist perspective by leading women scholars. Feminism and World Religions contains chapters on Hinduism by Vasudha Narayanan, Buddhism by Rita M. Gross, Confucianism by Terry Woo, Taoism by Karen McLaughlin and Eva Wong, Judaism by Ellen M. Umansky, Christianity by Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Islam by Riffat Hassan, along with a general introduction and a postscript by Katherine K. Young and a preface by Arvind Sharma. The fact that these authors share a dual but undivided commitment both to themselves as women and to their traditions as adherents imparts to their voices a prophetic quality, and if Mahatma Gandhi is to be believed, even scriptural value.

Charting over 30 years of debate on the significance of gender in the making and understanding of art, this anthology gathers together 99 representative... texts from North America, Europe and Australasia.

Feminism at the Movies: Understanding Gender in Contemporary Popular Cinema examines the way that contemporary film reflects today’s changing gender... roles. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the central issues in feminist film criticism with analyses of over twenty popular contemporary films across a range of genres, such as chick flicks, teen pics, hommecoms, horror, action adventure, indie flicks, and women lawyer films. Contributors explore issues of femininity as well as masculinity, reflecting on the interface of popular cinema with gendered realities and feminist ideas. Topics include the gendered political economy of cinema, the female director as auteur, postfeminist fatherhood, consumer culture, depictions of professional women, transgender, sexuality, gendered violence, and the intersections of gender, race, and ethnic identities. The volume contains essays by following contributors: Taunya Lovell Banks, Heather Brook, Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Michael DeAngelis, Barry Keith Grant, Kelly Kessler, Hannah Hamad, Christina Lane (with Nicole Richter), JaneMaree Maher, David Hansen-Miller (with Rosalind Gill), Gary Needham, Sarah Projansky, Hilary Radner, Rob Schaap, Yael D Sherman, Michele Shreiber, Janet Staiger, Peter Stapleton, Rebecca Stringer, Yvonne Tasker, and Ewa Ziarek.

This is a historical account of feminism that looks at the roots of feminism, voting rights, and the liberation of the sixties, and analyzes the current... situation of women across Europe, in the United States, and elsewhere in the world, particularly the Third World countries. Walters examines the difficulties and inequities that women still face, more than forty years after the "new wave" of 1960s feminism--difficulties, particularly, in combining domesticity, motherhood and work outside the home. How much have women's lives really changed? In the West, women still come up against the "glass ceiling" at work, with most earning considerably less than their male counterparts. What are we to make of the now commonplace insistence that feminism deprives men of their rights and dignities? And how does one tackle the issue of female emancipation in different cultural and economic environments--in, for example, Islam, Hinduism, the Middle East, Africa, and the Indian sub-continent?

University professor and social activist Tova Hartman, discouraged by failed attempts to make her modern Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem more inclusive... of women, together with other worshippers, set about creating their own own, Shira Hadasha ("a new song"). Since it opened in 2002, this new synagogue's mission--to develop a religious community that embraces halakhah (Jewish law), tefillah (prayer), and feminism--has drawn thousands to services. The courageous act of creating the synagogue--against amazing odds--is testimony to Hartman's own deeply felt commitment to both feminism and modern Orthodox Judaism. The story of the creation and ongoing development of similar "partnership minyans" in Jerusalem and elsewhere anchors and ties together this book's five essays, each of which explores a vital contact point between contemporary feminist thought and aspects of Jewish tradition. Hartman discusses three feminist analyses of Freudian psychology for reading Jewish texts; modesty and the religious male gaze; the backlash against feminism by traditional rabbis; the male imagery in liturgy; and Orthodox women and purity rituals. Throughout, Hartman emphasizes the importance of reinterpretation, asking her readers to view as "creative tensions" what seem like obvious and insurmountable contradictions between traditional and modern beliefs. Such tensions can offer unexpected connections as well as painful compromises. The conclusion revisits the construction of the synagogue as well as discusses its impediments and actualizing these types of social and religious changes. Hartman's book will speak directly to scholars and students of gender, religion, and psychology, as well as anyone interested in the negotiation of feminism and tradition.

When feminism itself becomes its own form of oppression, what do we have to say about it? Western notions of polite discourse are not the norm for all... of us, and just because we've got some new and hot language lately in equity-seeking movements like feminism - such as "intersectionality" - to use in our talk, it doesn't necessarily make things change in our walk (i.e. actually being anti-racist). Confronting the sometimes uncomfortable questions feminism has made us ask about what's going on FOR REAL paved the many paths that brought the contributors of this book together to share their sometimes uncomfortable truths, not just about feminism, but about who they are and where they are coming from. Against a backdrop exposing a 500+ year legacy of colonization and oppression, Feminism FOR REAL explores what has led us to the existence of "feminism", who gets to decide what it is, and why. With stories that make the walls of academia come tumbling down, it deals head-on with the conflicts of what feminism means in theory as opposed to real life, the frustrations of trying to relate to definitions of feminism that never fit no matter how much you try to change yourself to fit them, and the anger of changing a system while being in the system yourself.

William L. O’Neill’s lively history of American women’s struggle for equality is written with style and a keen sense for the variety of possible... interpretations of 150 years of the feminist movement, from its earliest stirring in the 1830’s to the latest developments in the 1980s. O’Neill’s most controversial thesis is that the feminist movements of the past have largely failed, and for reasons that remains of deep concern; the movements have never come to grips with the fact that marriage and the family are the chief obstacles to women’s emancipation. O’Neill also holds that the sexual revolution of the 1920s, far from liberating women, actually undermined their role in American life. O’Neill treats seriously the ideas of the great feminist leaders and their organizations. His was the first book to deal directly with the failure of feminism as a social force in American society; to tie together the scattered people and events in the history of American women; and to examine seriously feminist experience in the twentieth century. Since the women’s agenda is hardly complete, the women’s movement remains active, often militantly so. In this new revised edition, O’Neill interprets and illumines not only the history of feminism, but aspects of feminism that still trouble us today. O’Neill’s book was widely heralded upon its initial publication. Elizabeth Janeway, writing for Saturday Review, calls it “a truly intelligent discussion…an extraordinary perceptive analysis.” Carl Degler, in the Magazine of History calls A History of American Feminism “the most challenging and exciting book on the subject of women to appear in years.” And Lionel Tiger, writing for the NewRepublic, says that “O’Neill has turned his mastery of a wide range of historical sources into a lively, engaging, and almost faultlessly sensible book.”

Drawing on extensive research with a diverse group of seventy teen girls, Zaslow offers a critical account of the girl power moment in which feminism... and femininity are shrink-wrapped together in one market-friendly package. With a focus on pop music and television, she skillfully explores the negotiative processes of teen girls as they make sense of girl power’s new cultural narratives of femininity as well as its failure to offer strategies for real social change. Written in highly accessible language, this book charts new territory as it offers a rich account of the ways in which teen girls understand style, sexuality, motherhood, and feminism in girl power media culture, and how their desires, social experiences, and imaginings of the future are shaped in their relationship with a neoliberal girl power discourse. 

Drawing on extensive research with a diverse group of seventy teen girls, Zaslow offers a critical account of the girl power moment in which feminism... and femininity are shrink-wrapped together in one market-friendly package. With a focus on pop music and television, she skillfully explores the negotiative processes of teen girls as they make sense of girl power’s new cultural narratives of femininity as well as its failure to offer strategies for real social change. Written in highly accessible language, this book charts new territory as it offers a rich account of the ways in which teen girls understand style, sexuality, motherhood, and feminism in girl power media culture, and how their desires, social experiences, and imaginings of the future are shaped in their relationship with a neoliberal girl power discourse. 

While many in the West regard feminism and Islam as incompatible, many Muslims in the East have perceived Western feminist forces as an assault upon... their culture. In this career-spanning collection of influential essays, Margot Badran presents the feminisms that Muslim women have created, and examines Islamic and secular feminist ideologies side by side. Borne out of over two decades of work, this volume provides a unique contribution to Islam and gender studies.

Tracing the history of feminism in Japan from the end of the nineteenth century to the present, Vera Mackie offers a fascinating account of those who... rebelled against convention in the dissemination of ideas which challenged accepted ways of thinking about women, men and society. This carefully documented analysis is for students of feminism and related areas where nothing comparable is currently available.

From Simone de Beauvoir to Susan Faludi, from the ERA to Anita Hill -- a historically informed sourcebook that defines the intellectual and political... underpinnings of contemporary feminism.In this important volume, the respected feminist historian Miriam Schneir completes the work she began in her bestselling Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings, presenting contemporary writings that define the women's movement today add reveal how radically transformative a force it is throughout the world.Ranging from intensely personal statements to ringing manifestos, from diagnosis to outright rebellion, and incorporating both public records and works addressing such specific issues as religion, rape, women's health, pornography, and the concerns of lesbians and women of color, Feminism in Our Time is the most thorough record to date of women's ongoing struggle to control their own destinies and provide alternative visions of the just society and a true human equality.

An anthology of seminal articles written by feminist scholars over a period of nearly 30 years which have had a major influence on the development of... feminist theories of religion. The selected readings are wide-ranging in content and offer a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural perspective and reflect the work of scholars working within religious studies as well as scholars from other disciplines such as Nancy Chodorow and Judith Butler. The introductory essays by the volume editor linking some of the sections are packed with information about and reflections upon questions, resources, issues and debates vis-a-vis feminism and the study of religions. The book shows how debates about feminism within the study of religion have been influenced by broader theoretical discussions and provides evidence that feminist scholars working on religion have made their own contribution to feminist theory.

A genuine feminist politics always brings us from bondage to freedom, from lovelessness to loving....There can be no love without justice.—from the... chapter "To Love Again: The Heart of Feminism"In this engaging and provocative volume, bell hooks introduces a popular theory of feminism rooted in common sense and the wisdom of experience. Hers is a vision of a beloved community that appeals to all those committed to equality, mutual respect, and justice.hooks applies her critical analysis to the most contentious and challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work. With her customary insight and unsparing honesty, hooks calls for a feminism free from divisive barriers but rich with rigorous debate. In language both eye-opening and optimistic, hooks encourages us to demand alternatives to patriarchal, racist, and homophobic culture, and to imagine a different future.hooks speaks to all those in search of true liberation, asking readers to take look at feminism in a new light, to see that it touches all lives. Issuing an invitation to participate fully in feminist movement and to benefit fully from it, hooks shows that feminism—far from being an outdated concept or one limited to an intellectual elite--is indeed for everybody.bell hooks is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books on the politics of race, gender, class, and culture. A frequent lecturer in the United States and abroad, she is Distinguished Professor of English at City College, City University of New York.