Every morning Jewish men offering their prayers to God in the traditional manner include the line Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the universe who has not made me a woman. Regardless of one's interpretation of this line, it is an inescapable fact that traditional Judaism views women and men and their places within Judaism quite differently.

But Judaism is not a static religion. It has always been influenced by changes in its surrounding environment. Throughout history, issues of gender have both influenced and been influenced by classical and modern Jewish perspectives. This transformation continues today, as feminist thinkers attempt to discover how modern women fit into Jewish thought and practice. Is halakhah gender inclusive? How do conceptualizations of the Jewish home effect Jewish women's identities? What is the relation between the experiences of historical Jewish women and the roles of their present day sisters? How have changing gender roles affected the identity of the Jewish male?

In this groundbreaking anthology, twenty scholars seek to address these and other questions. Among the many subjects covered are: gender boundaries in Kabbalah; images of Jewish masculinity; the challenge of women's rabbinic leadership; Jewish feminist theory; rabbinic responses to wife-beating; Orthodox women in the modern world; and patriarchy, Judaism, and Nazism in German feminist thought.

This book analyzes the spread of American female consumer culture to Italy and its influence on Italian women in the postwar and Cold War periods, eras marked by the political, economic, social, and cultural battle between the United States and Soviet Union. Focusing on various aspects of this culture-beauty and hygiene products, refrigerators, and department stores, as well as shopping and magazine models-the book examines the reasons for and the methods of American female consumer culture's arrival in Italy, the democratic, consumer capitalist messages its products sought to "sell" to Italian women, and how Italian women themselves reacted to this new cultural presence in their everyday lives. Did Italian women become the American Mrs. Consumer? As such, the book illustrates how the modern, consuming American woman became a significant figure not only in Italy's postwar recovery and transformation, but also in the international and domestic cultural and social contests for the hearts and minds of Italian women.

Today, gender and gender identity is at the forefront of discussion as the plight of women around the world and issues of gender equality and human rights have become an international concern for politicians, government agencies, social activists, and the general public. Discourse Analysis as a Tool for Understanding Gender Identity, Representation, and Equality provides a thorough analysis of what language use and linguistic expression can teach us about gender identity in addition to current discussions on topics related to women's rights and gender inequality. Focusing on issues related to women in developing countries, workplace inequalities, and social freedom, this publication is an essential reference source for researchers, graduate-level students, and theorists in the fields of sociology, women's studies, economics, and government.

This book explores the production of Muslim youth identities, with respect to nation, religion and gender in Pakistan, Senegal, Nigeria and Lebanon. As Muslim-majority, post-colonial states with significant youth populations, these countries offer critical case studies for the exploration of the different grammars of youth identities, and 'trouble' the perceived homogeneity of Muslims in local and global imaginaries. The authors offer rigorous and detailed accounts of the local, situated and contingent ways in which youth articulate their identities and sense of belonging, and the book reflects on the importance of affect, belonging and affiliation in the construction of youth narratives of identity as well as highlighting their political and contested nature. Troubling Muslim Youth Identities will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of development studies, social and cultural studies, gender, geography, education, and peace and conflict studies.

Researched and written by a collaborative team of Americans and Russians, "Marriages in Russia" explores the myths and realities of how the first years of market transformation have affected Russian family life. The research project, in which 2418 individual interviews of randomly sampled heterosexual couples are used, was initiated to determine if the relationships between gender attitudes and the relative social statuses of spouses--based on such factors as education, occupational prestige, and income--influence the marital quality spouses experience. Whether these variables are linked to domestic violence, as data show they are in the United States, is also examined. The results are surprising in that they often contradict general beliefs about Russian gender attitudes and gender attributes, and the analysis of these findings is ultimately a fascinating look at the post-Cold War realities of family life in Russia.

Challenging Global Gender Violence provides a qualitative and comparative analysis of women's experiences of violence, healing, and action across cultures. Gender violence is the most pervasive human rights violation affecting women and children across both the developed and developing world. While the specific cultural contexts and acts of violence vary, the feelings that women express about their experiences of abuse are strikingly similar. So are the images, colors, and words they use to express those feelings. Hearts - bruised, broken, and torn; black and red; NO and No Mas are frequently found on shirts contributed to the Global Clothesline Project. While providing a theoretical analysis of trauma, Susan D. Rose grounds the discussion in the lived experiences and stories of women across cultures. Featuring women's stories, artwork, and voices as they speak about their experiences of violence and healing, this brief volume examines the relationship between gender inequality and gender violence, the health impacts of gender violence, and strategies being used to reduce violence against women.

How do Chinese, Japanese and Korean mothers in Britain make sense of their motherhood and employment? What are the intersecting factors that shape these women's identities, experiences and stories? Contributing further to the continuing discourse and development of intersectionality, this book examines East Asian migrant women's stories of motherhood, employment and gender relations by deploying interlocking categories that go beyond the meta axes of race, gender and class, including factors such as husbands' ethnicities and the locality of their settlement. Through this, Lim argues for more detailed and context specific analytical categories of intersectionality, enabling a more nuanced understanding of migrant women's stories and identities. East Asian Mothers in Britain will appeal to students and scholars across a range of disciplines and with an interest in identity, gender, ethnicity, class, migration and intersectionality.

Much research has been done on the social messages conveyed to children reading or listening to fairy tales. In this highly original study, the emphasis shifts from content to linguistic expression. The language and linguistic organization of a dozen versions, old and new, of the Little Red Riding Hood story are analyzed using a variety of theoretical approaches, including Critical Discourse Analysis, Conversational Analysis, Functional Grammar and Critical Stylistics, to uncover the contribution of fairy tales to the discourse of gender relations over time.

In this book, Al-Kohlani examines fifty-five Muslim and non-Muslim countries from 1960 to 2010 in response to "religious theory" that associates certain religions with gender inequality and "modernization theory" which downplays the role of religion on gender inequity and associates gender inequality with socioeconomic factors. The author explores both schools of thought and posits that, on average, Muslim countries have lower educational equality in comparison to non-Muslim countries with less religious constitution. An interdisciplinary study drawn from the fields of world politics, public policy in education, and political religion, this book responds not only to debates within academia, but also to larger debates in society about the role of religion in the state, the specific challenges of the relationship of Islam and the public policies, and the relationship between constitution and gender equality.

This book explores the courtship and marriage of Gwyneth Murray, an English woman, and a Canadian, Harry Logan, who wrote in the personae of their vagina (Dardanella) and penis (Peter) during World War I. Through an analysis of their extensive daily correspondence over nearly a decade, it uncovers the couple's changing attitudes to the intersection of sexuality and religion, to marriage and childrearing, as they navigated the transition from Victorian to modern values. By focusing on first-person narratives, this book enriches our understanding of gender identities revealing how porous the boundaries remained between notions of 'heterosexual' and 'same-sex' friendships. This study offers an unprecedented perspective on one couple's sexual practices, which included mutual masturbation and oral sex, and constitutes one of the most intensive examinations of female attitudes to sexual pleasure in an era of female emancipation.

In the course of the twentieth century glamour was associated primarily with cinema, although the theatre, fashion, high society, popular music, glossy magazines and department stores have all sought to harness its allure. It is usually associated with 'magic' and suggests a capacity to dazzle and seduce. Yet glamour's origins and meanings have never until now been thoroughly examined. For many, it is simply the aura of excitement and mystery that has surrounded the famous and the desirable from time immemorial. By contrast, this innovative book traces the origins of glamour to the nineteenth century and identifies it as a core feature of consumer culture. The authors examine the way that a language of visual seduction has been associated with a variety of social milieux and used to arouse envy and interest, mainly in commercial settings. They also illustrate eight distinct permutations of glamour, each of which has a complex history and is in continual evolution.

Queer Presences and Absences explores changes and continuations in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer lives, identities and spatial practices in the 21st century. Queer futures are situated across local, national and international spaces including the UK, USA, Italy, Brazil, Russia and the Czech Republic. Queer movements, marginalities and mainstreams are located in legislative changes, institutional locations and in everyday spaces: these are mediated through consumption, possession and entitlement, alongside dispossession, poverty and inequality. Rather than positing a queer arrival or a queer present 'everywhere', care is taken to consider the diversity of queer existence. Using a range of methods, including qualitative interviews, ethnographies, auto-biographical 'fictions' and archival research, authors connect pasts, places and policies with contemporary times, linking individual and social presences (and absences) affectively and materially.

When addressed in its full reactive potential, gender has a tendency to unfix the reassuring certainties of education and academia. Gender pedagogy unfolds as an account of teaching gender learning that is rooted in Derrida's concept of the 'trace', reflecting the unfixing properties of gender and even shaking up academic knowledge production.

Starting in embryonic development, gender has profound influences on us. Endocrine receptors in the brain affect cognition, mood, and behavior differently in males and females, and gender roles inevitably affect our psychosocial experiences. It should be no surprise that men and women have differences in vulnerability for developing many forms of psychopathology, in expression of symptoms and in response to treatment.

Gender and Its Effect on Psychopathology examines the gender differences in psychopathology, including susceptibility to psychiatric disorders, the timing of their onset, their course, and their response to treatment. Dr. Ellen Frank and colleagues show how studying these differences helps clinicians in predicting patients' responses to treatment. This book reviews - The types of depression to which women are prone, the hormonal basis of mood disorders in women, and the specific clinical phenomenology of reproduction-related depressions- Findings on how gender difference in socialization affect the development and symptoms of psychiatric disorders- Studies hormonal and pubertal changes that may explain the rise in rates for depression among females relative to males between ages 10 and 15 years- Epidemiological findings on the prevalence of depression among women and discusses plausible explanations for these findings- Gender differences in antisocial and borderline personality disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and substance dependence

A synopsis of current research on gender differences, Gender and Its Effects on Psychopathology provides practitioners with invaluable insight into understanding and treating patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders.

This text brings together debates and empirical research in feminist theory, theories of men and masculinity, and post-structuralism, offering a wide-ranging account of the relationship between gender, culture and society. It offers a balanced study of the diverse, complex and fluid nature of gender at a time of rapid social change. It is a comprehensive book that is suitable for undergraduate and post-graduate social science courses and valuable to those writing and researching in the area of gender relations.

Personal status laws remain a highly politicized area of debate in the Middle East, as the arena in which the contentious issues of women's rights, religion and minority groups meet. This is especially so when it comes to divorce. In Tunisia, with the moderate Islamist party Ennahda winning the first elections following the 2011 revolution, questions of religion in public life have gained greater primacy. The country is often hailed for its progressive personal status code, seen as an exception to the practice in many other Muslim countries. Polygamy is banned, for example, and in divorce cases there is gender equality. However, Tunisia's legal system contains many gaps and leaves much room for interpretation. Bearing in mind this importance of the role of Islam in judicial courts, Maaike Voorhoeve investigates whether the more progressive, and ostensibly secular, principles enshrined in Tunisia's Personal Status Code of 1956 are in fact adhered to in divorce cases. And if not, whether judges frequently turn to the Sharia, custom or societal norms as their primary sources of guidance. Through extensive research in the Tunisian courts, Voorhoeve investigates the different types of divorce, the arguments presented to the court and the consequent legal decisions made. She focuses on the role of female judges, testing the assumption that they adjudicate in a more gender-neutral way and examining the impact they have had on Tunisian legal culture and through this, Tunisian society. Gender and Divorce Law in North Africa therefore sheds light on the wide-reaching debate throughout North Africa and the Middle East concerning the role of Islam and Sharia in the public, political, legal and private spheres. This debate, which often pits secularists against Islamists, but is in reality much more nuanced, is key in a variety of fields, including Middle East studies and Islamic law.

The Handbook on Gender in World Politics serves as a compendium of cutting-edge scholarship on gender in world politics across a number of academic disciplines. It encompasses the key research areas in the field to provide readers with a gateway to further study. Featuring leading experts writing from diverse perspectives, this Handbook focuses on women as a category of analysis, masculinities, sexualities, LGBT rights and transgender identities. The topics discussed include statecraft, citizenship and the politics of belonging, international law and human rights, media and communications technologies, political economy, development, global governance and transnational visions of politics and solidarities. Students and scholars of gender and international relations and gender in world politics will find this Handbook to be an indispensible guide to the subject. It will also be of interest to practitioners in the field looking to pave the way for new policies and regulations. Contributors include: A.M. Agathangelou, N. Al-Ali, K. Alexander, D.K. Barker, A. Biricik, E. Boris, K.E. Brown, C. Brunner, D. Buss, G. Caglar, T. Carver, H. Charlesworth, C. Chinkin, A.K. Darkwah, A. den Boer, P. Drumond, A.C. Drury, R.C. Eichenberg, C. Eschle, E.A. Foster, J. Freedman, P. Griffin, C. Harrington, J. Hearn, P. Higate, C. Hoskyns, V.M. Hudson, T.A.M. Johnson, J. Joachim, R. Jacobson, J.S. Jaquette, J. Kantola, H.M. Kinsell, P. Kirby, E. Kofman, B. Maiguashca , C. Masters, L. McLeod, S. Parashar, D. Peksen, Z. Pflaeger Young, N. Pratt, E. Prugl, S.M. Rai, B.M. Read, A. Roberts, C. Rowley, J. Russel, A. Sisson Runyan, L.J. Shepherd, L. Sjoberg, N. Smith, J. Steans, M. Stern, D. Tepe-Belfrage, J. True, H.M. Turcotte, T.P. van der Weide, H. Weber, A.T. Wibben, G. Youngs, M. Zalewski, S. Zimmermann, S. Zwingel

An invaluable resource examining LGBTQIA+ portrayals in contemporary American film. The depictions of LGBTQIA+ characters in film have always varied immensely. However, the negative depictions often seem to outweigh the positive, perhaps because of the hurt they inspire or perhaps because they regrettably outnumber the positive films. The Encyclopedia of LGBTQIA+ Portrayals in American Film explores works from the past fifty years in order to not only discuss how LGBTQIA+ characters are portrayed in American film, but also how these portrayals affect viewers. Contributors to this valuable reference include film and media scholars, gender studies scholars, journalists, LGBTQIA+ advocates, and more, representing countries from around the world. This rich array of perspectives provide careful and critical examinations of more than 100 films, ranging from the ethical and compassionate to the deliberately cruel and destructive. Featuring films such as American Beauty, Batman v Superman, Fight Club, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Little Miss Sunshine, and Venom, this extensive volume informs and educates scholars and general readers alike, guiding them to see injustice more clearly and inspiring future generations to create art that is both inclusive and thoughtful.

"The Double Voice" reassesses the notions of gender which have been used to analyze Renaissance literature. Rather than assuming that men and women write differently because of background, education and culture, it tries to unsettle the connections between the sex of the author and the constructions of gender in texts, and to reconsider the prevalent determinist model of reading which tends to consign women writers to the private, domestic sphere, and to render male negotiations of gender and sexuality invisible and transparent.

During the last half of the nineteenth century, a number of social and economic factors converged that resulted in the rural village of Deerfield, Massachusetts becoming almost entirely female. This drastic shift in population presents a unique lens through which to study gender roles and social relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The lessons gleaned from this case study will provide new insight to the study of gender relations throughout other historical periods as well.

Through an intensive examination of both historical and archaeological evidence, the author presents a clear picture of the gendered social relations in Deerfield over the span of seventy years. While gender relations in urban settings have been studied extensively, this unique work provides the same level of examination to gender relations in a rural setting. Likewise, where previous studies have often focused only on relations between married men and women, the unique case of Deerfield provides insight into the experiences of single women, particularly widows and spinsters .

This work presents a unique contribution that will be essential for anyone studying the historical archaeology of gender, or gender roles in the Victorian era and beyond."

The book explores the intersection of emotions and migration in a number of case studies from across the USA, Europe and Southeast Asia, including the transmigration of female domestic workers, transmigrant marriages, transmigrant workers in the entertainment industry and asylum seekers and refugees who are the victims of domestic violence.

This book provides an overview of women's opportunities for schooling, their social activities, and the social biases they faced in rural communities in Greece, Italy and parts of the Balkans during the 19th and early 20th century. It examines such topics as female illiteracy, the efforts of women-protestant missionaries to expand knowledge through Protestantism, the prejudice against education for women, the socio-economic context, the roles women fulfilled, and the structure of the patriarchal family. The book approaches these issues from the perspective of pedagogy and social history. The fundamental questions discussed by the book are: How was female education viewed by the country folk? What was the role of women in the private and the public sphere? How did peasant women respond to the challenges of the 'modern' world? Were they free to express their feelings and ambitions? In what way? Were they happy?

Jo Carr and Anne Pauwels examine the continuing poor relationship between boys and the study of foreign languages. Framed by discussion of gender socialization, gendered curriculum practices and cultural narratives about boys and schooling, the core of the book is constructed by boys themselves. They talk about school, about themselves as learners, about teachers and language classrooms. Their commentaries raise important issues for language teachers and curriculum planners, but also for everyone involved in wider conversations about boys, language, literacy and education.