The term Niddah means separation. During her menstrual flow and for several days thereafter, a Jewish woman is considered Niddah -- separate from her husband and unable to practice the sacred rituals of Judaism. Purification in a miqveh (a ritual bath) following her period restores full status as a wife and member of the Jewish community. In the contemporary world, debates about Niddah focus less on the literal exclusion of menstruating women from the synagogue, instead emphasizing relations between husband and wife and the general role of Jewish women in Judaism.
Although this has been the law since ancient times, the meaning and practice of Niddah has been widely contested. Women and Water explores how these purity rituals have affected Jewish women across time and place, and shows how their own interpretation of Niddah often conflicted with rabbinic views. These essays also speak to contemporary feminist issues such as shaping women's identity, power relations between women and men, and the role of women in the sacred.

Compelling essays which underline the central place pregnancy and childbirth hold in women's writing. Embracing three centuries of prose and poetry, the anthology traces the evolution of American maternity literature, exploring the difficulties mothers faced as they struggled to transform themselves from objects into maternal subjects. Women as diverse as Anne Bradstreet, Anne Sexton, Sharon Olds, Kate Chopin, Toni Morrison, and Louise Erdrich all labored to reclaim the birthing process by giving voice to experiences and emotions long devalued by a patriarchal culture. Their voices resonate throughout this collection.

Eve: A Biography is the history of Everywoman. Her brief adventure in the Book of Genesis is where the Western idea of woman began, and three thousand years after Eve offered Adam the forbidden fruit, everyone still knows that losing Paradise was Eve's fault.

Pamela Norris traces the evolution of Eve's bad reputation, drawing on a rich and diverse tradition of storytelling that embraces myth, folk tale and popular romance, and puts the spotlight firmly on women and their sexuality. From Dinah and Delilah, Pandora and Psyche, to the snaky Lamias and Liliths who haunted nineteenth-century painting and literature, centuries of disobedient women have been linked with Eve, the original bad girl, providing ample ammunition for male fears and fantasies. But Eve's story has also been retold by women, who have found ingenious and often subversive ways to free her from her disreputable past.

Stimulating, intriguing and wittily erudite, Eve: A Biography is the entrancing tale of a folk maiden who metamorphoses into a vamp, a mermaid, a bluestocking, a witch, a virgin trapped inside the walls of a fertile garden and finally, perhaps, into a thoroughly modern woman who chews the apple of knowledge with gusto and wouldn't dream of offering Adam a bite.

This is an exciting new edition of R.W. Connella s ground--breaking text, which has become a classic work on the nature and construction of masculine identity. Connell argues that there is not one masculinity, but many different masculinities, each associated with different positions of power. In a world gender order that continues to privilege men over women, but also raises difficult issues for men and boys, his account is more pertinent than ever before. In a substantial new introduction and conclusion, Connell discusses the development of masculinity studies in the ten years since the booka s initial publication. He explores global gender relations, new theories, and practical uses of mascunlinity research. Looking to the future, his new concluding chapter addresses the politics of masculinities, and the implications of masculinity research for understanding current world issues. Against the backdrop of an increasingly divided world, dominated by neo--conservative politics, Connella s account highlights a series of compelling questions about the future of human society. This second edition of Connella s classic book will be essential reading for students taking courses on masculinities and gender studies, and will be of interest to students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences.

There is growing interest in the relationship between gender and entrepreneurial activity. In this book, 37 eminent scholars from diverse academic disciplines contribute cutting-edge research that addresses, from a gender perspective, three general areas of importance: key characteristics of entrepreneurs, key performance attributes of entrepreneurial firms, and the role of financial capital in the establishment and growth of entrepreneurial firms. Each chapter focuses on original, burgeoning themes related to gender and entrepreneurship, with forward-looking research that highlights key findings. For example, some authors show how the so-called 'gender divide' in patenting is greater than in publishing for academic entrepreneurs. Others explore the corruption in business practices, which is less for women entrepreneurs than their male counterparts, and explain why gender diversity is higher in equity crowdfunding than in other entrepreneurial finance markets. The book takes a global approach, offering examples of entrepreneurs from around the world. Scholars and students interested in entrepreneurship and the role of gender in business will find this volume informative and eye opening. Contributors include: D.B. Audretsch, D. Benaroio, O. Bengtsson, A. Blume, M.E. Blume-Kohout, F. Carne, S. Coleman, J.A. Cunningham, B. Dolan, R.K. Goel, D. Goektepe-Hulten, C.S. Hayter, J. Hegland, N. Hodges, M. Johannesson, E. Karpova, M. Koparanova, E. Leahey, E.E. Lehmann, A.N. Link, L. Lynch, V. Mangematin, S. Marcketti, R. Mohammed, C. O'Kane, P. O'Reilly, M. Parker, R. Ram, A. Robb, T. Sanandaji, C. Trentini, S. Vismara, K. Watchravesringkan, M. Williams, K. Wirsching, R.-N. Yan, J. Yurchisin

This chronologically selected anthology of fiction by eight Ohio women makes accessible a literary tradition that begins with lost aspects of frontier life in the 1830s depicted by contemporaries Julia L. Dumont and Pamilla W. Ball. It ends with Jessie Brown Pounds's retrospective recreation of the Western Reserve's frontier culture at the century's close.

Although it has only been thirty years since the first female jockey rode onto the then male-only turf of thoroughbred horse racing, they have since made their mark on the racetrack and in the winner's circle. Great Women in the Sport of Kings, the first book to consider the phenomenon of female jockeys, takes an in-depth look at their lives.

Through the oral histories of ten top female jockeys, the authors offer intimate portraits of how they overcame personal and professional obstacles to rise to the top of thoroughbred horse racing. In her Introduction, women's sports historian Mary Jo Festle explores the larger issues of women in sport, sexism in horse racing, the struggles female jockeys face, and the significance of their success.

A new kind of manifesto for the working woman, with practical guidance on building wealth as well as inspiration for harnessing the freedom and power that comes from a breadwinning mindset.

Women are now their household's main breadwinner in one-in-four households in the UK. And yet, the majority of women still aren't being brought up to think like breadwinners. In fact, they're actually discouraged – by institutional bias and subconscious beliefs – from building their own wealth, pursuing their full earning potential, and providing for themselves and others financially. The result is that women earn less, owe more, and have significantly less money saved and invested for the future than men do. And if women do end up the main breadwinners, they've been conditioned to feel reluctant and unprepared to manage the role.

In Think Like a Breadwinner, financial expert Jennifer Barrett reframes what it really means to be a breadwinner by dismantling the narrative that women don't – and shouldn't – take full financial responsibility to create the lives they want. Featuring a wide variety of case studies from women at all stages of their careers and financial lives, Barrett shares the secrets of women who already think like breadwinners. Barrett reveals not only the importance of women building their own wealth, but also the freedom and power that comes with it.

Even in Hollywood's world of blockbusters and special effects, there continues to be interest in "quieter" adaptations based on the works of writers of other eras, especially the classic novels of nineteenth-century women. Those novels emphasize strong female protagonists, fine language, and sensitivity to social nuances. This volume's twelve essays offer critical insights not only into the visions of the novelist and the filmmaker but also into contemporary cultural concerns. The adaptations of novels by eight popular writers are analyzied: Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Ouida, and George Eliot.

This study portrays individuals, organizations, and events that contributed to the development of the world movement for women's rights between 1848 and 1948.

"An interesting book for anyone who is interested in the history of venereal disease. It provides some interesting facts to consider about women and venereal disease and makes the reader aware that women have taken a bad rap for many centuries and that bad rap is slowly being transferred to the gays in this age of AIDS. Recommended for all academic and medical libraries."
"--AIDS Book Review Journal"

In 1497 the local council of a small town in Scotland issued an order that all light women--women suspected of prostitution-- be branded with a hot iron on their face. In late eighteenth- century England, the body of the prostitute became almost synonymous with venereal disease as doctors drew up detailed descriptions of the abnormal and degenerate traits of fallen women. Throughout much of history, popular and medical knowledge has held women, especially promiscuous women, as the source of venereal disease. In Feminizing Venereal Disease, Mary Spongberg provides a critical examination of this practice by examining the construction of venereal disease in 19th century Britain.

Spongberg argues that despite the efforts of doctors to treat medicine as a pure science, medical knowledge was greatly influenced by cultural assumptions and social and moral codes. By revealing the symbolic importance of the prostitute as the source of social disease in Victorian England, Spongberg presents a forceful argument about the gendering of nineteenth- century medicine. In a fascinating use of history to enlighten contemporary discourse, the book concludes with a compelling discussion of the impact of Victorian notions of the body on current discussions of HIV/AIDS, arguing that AIDS, likesyphilis in the nineteenth century, has become a feminized disease.

The phenomenon of women's entrepreneurship has gained significant momentum across the globe. Written by leading scholars from a wide range of countries, this book advances the understanding of women's entrepreneurship by drawing attention to the contexts they operate in. It is the fifth in the series of books produced in partnership with the Diana International Research Network. In this book, expert contributors explore female potential and how entrepreneurs make decisions within a multi-layered gendered context. As a rare and current overview of women's entrepreneurship, it presents evidence of the positive impact that achieving equality in gendered institutions would have, how to facilitate meso-institutions' impact and how to foster entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial initiative at the individual level. A crucial discussion of how women's entrepreneurship could benefit from a more comprehensive concept of innovation or implementing entrepreneurial policies focused on women is also included. With its focus on advancing knowledge about gender issues within the business realm, Women's Entrepreneurship in Global and Local Contexts will be of interest to researchers, faculty and students as well as policy-makers and practitioners. Contributors include: R. Aidis, L. Alexandre, G. Armannsdottir, T. Bijedic, A.M. Bojica, C. Brindley, S. Brink, C.G. Brush, S. Coleman, S. Cooper, L. De Vita, M. del Mar Fuentes, C. Diaz-Garcia, K. Ettl, A. Ford, C. Foster, E.J. Gatewood, G. Gunay, B.R. Hernandez-Sanchez, E.B. Kahraman, S. Kriwoluzky, J.V. Leon, M. Mari, D. Nziku, C. Pich, S. Poggesi, A. Robb, M. Ruiz-Arroyo, J.C. Sanchez-Garcia, M. Tillmar, D. Uygur, F. Welter, D. Wheatley

Authenticity is the heart of any powerful brand. That's not news - authenticity has become the "it word" in marketing - but why do so many people find it so hard to put it into practice? Jessica Zweig has emerged as one of the few branding gurus who really gets authenticity: how to find it in yourself, how to show it to others, and most importantly, how to live it. In Be: A No-Bullsh*t Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself, Zweig explores the myths about branding and gets straight into the heart of what really builds and sustains a personal brand platform: your unapologetic authenticity. "In these pages, you're going to learn why the most authentic people are also the most magnetic," she says. "You can and will become one of those people, too. Because actually, you already are. I'm just going to teach you how to uncover it step by step." The internet is the most powerful tool for connection in history - but if you have a business, a mission, or a dream, you have to be able to cut through the noise. "This book is about more than making money or getting your 15 minutes of fame," Zweig says. "This is for people who want to build a legacy by connecting with others, changing lives, and moving the world forward."

"Jill Steans has written an excellent introductory study of feminist contributions to international relations theory-challenging in approach, and comprehensive in range." -Fred Halliday, London School of Economics and Political Science "Gender and International Relations provides a wonderfully lucid and insightful overview of the rapidly growing body of feminist international relations scholarship. The author not only sensitizes the reader to differences among feminist approaches, but also clearly stakes out feminist international relations' place within the so-called Third Debate. In addition to providing a critique of the more traditional international relations concerns like the state, nation(alism), and security, the text addresses questions of development and global political economy as well." -Marianne Marchand, University of Amsterdam "This is an exceptionally well-written and accessible introduction to the relationship between gender and international relations. Jill Steans has produced a much-needed guide to one of the most important areas of contemporary international relations theory and practice. This will surely become a standard introductory text for courses on gender and international relations." -Steve Smith, University of Wales Until relatively recently, little had been written about gender issues in international relations despite the increased importance of the study of gender in other areas of the social sciences. Gender and International Relations fills that gap, providing a clear and accessible guide to the study of gender issues, feminist theories, and international relations. In the book, Jill Steans illustrates how gender is central to nationalisms and political identity, the state, citizenship and conceptions of political community, security, and global political economy and development. Drawing on feminist scholarship from across the social sciences, she demonstrates the uses of feminism as critique. She also introduces readers to contemporary theoretical debates in international relations using concrete concerns and easily understandable issues to ground the discussion. The book does not construct a single feminist theory of international relations nor does it advance a particular perspective of how gender can best be understood in an international or global context. Rather, the book argues that feminist theories have collectively produced insights crucial to the study of international relations and that these insights can be used to challenge conventional approaches to the discipline. Jill Steans is a lecturer in international relations at Keele University.

The first investigation of how race and gender shaped the presentation and marketing of Modernist decor in postwar America In the world of interior design, mid-century Modernism has left an indelible mark still seen and felt today in countless open-concept floor plans and spare, geometric furnishings. Yet despite our continued fascination, we rarely consider how this iconic design sensibility was marketed to the diverse audiences of its era. Examining advice manuals, advertisements in Life and Ebony, furniture, art, and more, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body offers a powerful new look at how codes of race, gender, and identity influenced-and were influenced by-Modern design and shaped its presentation to consumers. Taking us to the booming suburban landscape of postwar America, Kristina Wilson demonstrates that the ideals defined by popular Modernist furnishings were far from neutral or race-blind. Advertisers offered this aesthetic to White audiences as a solution for keeping dirt and outsiders at bay, an approach that reinforced middle-class White privilege. By contrast, media arenas such as Ebony magazine presented African American readers with an image of Modernism as a style of comfort, security, and social confidence. Wilson shows how etiquette and home decorating manuals served to control women by associating them with the domestic sphere, and she considers how furniture by George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames, as well as smaller-scale decorative accessories, empowered some users, even while constraining others. A striking counter-narrative to conventional histories of design, Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body unveils fresh perspectives on one of the most distinctive movements in American visual culture.

"In these intricately woven, theoretically rich and subtle essays, Lidia Curti re-reads a diverse range of texts narrated by women in a variety of media. She deploys the interplay between genres and gender to disclose women narrating both the power of the female imaginary and the poetical and political reach of the voices, bodies and histories which sustain them."
"--Stuart Hall"

Exploring women's narratives from an innovative feminist perspective, Female Stories, Female Bodies combines theory and textual commentary in a wide-ranging interrogation of representation and identity, gender and genre. Cultural critic Lidia Curti takes us through a diverse range of texts in a broad spectrum of media and genres, drawing on feminist, psychoanalytic, postmodern, and postcolonial theory in a challenging and rigorous discussion of such themes as hybridity and monstrosity, the male and female gaze, melancholia, desire, and paranoia.

From Angela Carter and Toni Morrison to Jeanette Winterson and Jane Bowles, from daytime t.v. to Shakespearean drama, Curti examines variegated "textualities" in search of the "spaces and times" that narrative occupies in women's lives. Following de Certeau's dictum that "our stories order our world, providing the mimetic and mythical structures for experience," she argues that women must retrace their way in the interminable plurality of female narrative texts as a strategy for resisting the "official" closure of female identity. Female Stories, Female Bodies takes us on such a journey, bringing the body of female narrative to bear on the lived experiences of women everywhere.

"In these intricately woven, theoretically rich and subtle essays, Lidia Curti re-reads a diverse range of texts narrated by women in a variety of media. She deploys the interplay between genres and gender to disclose women narrating both the power of the female imaginary and the poetical and political reach of the voices, bodies and histories which sustain them."
"--Stuart Hall"

Exploring women's narratives from an innovative feminist perspective, Female Stories, Female Bodies combines theory and textual commentary in a wide-ranging interrogation of representation and identity, gender and genre. Cultural critic Lidia Curti takes us through a diverse range of texts in a broad spectrum of media and genres, drawing on feminist, psychoanalytic, postmodern, and postcolonial theory in a challenging and rigorous discussion of such themes as hybridity and monstrosity, the male and female gaze, melancholia, desire, and paranoia.

From Angela Carter and Toni Morrison to Jeanette Winterson and Jane Bowles, from daytime t.v. to Shakespearean drama, Curti examines variegated "textualities" in search of the "spaces and times" that narrative occupies in women's lives. Following de Certeau's dictum that "our stories order our world, providing the mimetic and mythical structures for experience," she argues that women must retrace their way in the interminable plurality of female narrative texts as a strategy for resisting the "official" closure of female identity. Female Stories, Female Bodies takes us on such a journey, bringing the body of female narrative to bear on the lived experiences of women everywhere.

'Powerful and provocative' - Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the Sunday Times bestselling How to be an Antiracist 'A MUST read for any white women who consider themselves "feminist"' - Scarlett Curtis, author of the Sunday Times bestselling Feminists Don't Wear Pink 'An explosive and revelatory argument for deconstructing and confronting the entrenched notions of white supremacy and superiority that still reign today.' - Mireille Harper 'How is it that we have been so conditioned to privilege the emotional comfort of white people?' White tears possess a potency that is rarely acknowledged or commented upon, but they have long been used as a dangerous and insidious tool against people of colour, weaponised in order to invoke sympathy and divert blame. Taking us from the slave era, when white women fought in court to keep 'ownership' of their slaves, through centuries of colonialism, when women offered a soft face for brutal tactics, to the modern workplace, in which tears serve as a defense to counter accusations of bias and micro-aggressions, White Tears/Brown Scars tells a charged story of white women's active participation in campaigns of oppression. It offers a long-overdue validation of the experiences of women of colour and an urgent call-to-arms in the need for true intersectionality. With rigour and precision, Hamad builds a powerful argument about the legacy of white superiority that we are socialised within, a reality that we must all apprehend in order to fight.