From the asparas of Hindu myth to the swan maidens of European fairy tales, tales of flying women-some with wings, others with clouds, rainbows, floating scarves, or flying horses-reveal both fascination with and ambivalence about female power and sexuality. In Women Who Fly, Serinity Young examines the motif of flying women as it appears in a wide variety of cultures and historical periods, expressed in legends, myths, rituals, sacred narratives, and artistic productions. She covers a wide range of themes, including supernatural women, like the Valkyries, who transport men to immortality; winged goddesses like Iris and the Greek goddess Nike; figures of terror like the Furies, witches, and succubi; the relationship of marriage and freedom; the connections between women, death, and rebirth; dreams about flying and shamanistic journeys; airborne Christian mystics; and wayward women like Lilith and Morgan le Fay. Young also looks at the mythology surrounding real-life female aviators like Amelia Earhart and Hanna Reitsch. Throughout these examples of flying women, Young demonstrates that female power has been inextricably linked with female sexuality and that the desire to control it was and continues to be a pervasive theme in these stories. The relationship between sex and power is most vividly portrayed in the 12th-century Niebelungenlied, in which the proud warrior-queen Brunnhilde loses her great physical strength when she is tricked into losing her virginity. But even in the 20th century the same idea is reflected in the exploits of the comic book character Wonder Woman, who, posits Young, retains her physical strength only because her love for fellow aviator Steve Trevor goes unrequited. The first book to systematically chronicle the figure of the flying woman in myth, literature, and art, Women Who Fly sheds new light on the ways in which women have both influenced and been understood by society and religious traditions around the world.

In an era when women were supposed to be disciplined and obedient, Anna proved to be neither. Defying 16th-century social mores, she was the frequent subject of gossip because of her immodest dress and flirtatious behavior. When her wealthy father discovered that she was having secret, simultaneous affairs with a young nobleman and a cavalryman, he turned her out of the house in rage, but when she sued him for financial support, he had her captured, returned home and chained to a table as punishment. Anna eventually escaped and continued her suit against her father, her siblings and her home town in a bitter legal battle that was to last 30 years and end only upon her death.

Drawn from her surviving love letters and court records, The Burgermeister's Daughter is a fascinating examination of the politics of sexuality, gender and family in the 16th century, and a powerful testament to the courage and tenacity of a woman who defied the inequalities of this distant age.

Every year 5% of all breast cancer diagnosis occur in women under the age of forty. They do not have the time to be sick, stop their lives or even take the time to care for themselves. This book is for them-the women outside the common statistics, like me. Someone who has been rocked by a scary diagnosis but continues to rock-on. Someone who needs to laugh in the face of fear. It is scary-but hey, if I can get through it, anyone can. The one thing I know for sure, laughter heals. I realized long ago, before cancer, that if I didn t laugh, I d cry. I choose to laugh. I hope you do too.

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

Questioning hegemonic masculinity in literature is not novel. In the nineteenth century, under the July Monarchy (1830 1848), several French writers depicted characters who did not conform to gender expectations: hermaphrodites, castrati, homosexuals, effete men and mannish women. This book investigates the historical conditions in which these protagonists were created and their success during the July Monarchy. It analyses novels and novellas by Balzac, Gautier, Latouche, Musset and Sand in order to determine how these literary narratives challenged the traditional representations of masculinity and even redefined genders through their unconventional characters. This book also examines the connections and the disparities between these literary texts and contemporary scientific texts on sexual difference, homosexuality and intersexuality. It thus highlights the July Monarchy as a key period for the redefinition of gender identities.