This book delves into this almost unchartered territory, documenting the lived experiences of sex workers in Bangladesh, considering the complex realities of their day-to-day lives and the ways they negotiate their working conditions and relationships. Despite being the most common form of female deviance and criminality globally, we know very little about sex work in Asia and the global south. Drawing on feminist frameworks, it shows that the experiences of sex workers vary widely depending on the ways they enter the sex trade, their modes of operation, and relationships with significant others. Towards a Southern Approach to Sex Work contributes to feminist scholarship on sex work, by offering a much needed southern perspective, drawing on culturally specific data. It argues that the lived experience of sex workers comprises both victimhood and agency, deception and resilience, and that it is the management of these relationships that enable sex works to avoid social marginalization and alienation. An accessible and compelling read, this will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, gender studies, south Asian studies, cultural studies, social theory and policy makers. In addition, it will engage all those interested in learning more about how the sex trade operates in Bangladesh.

What does it really feel like to live with a mental health problem? This collection of poems delve into the raw reality of fighting mental health problems and emerging from the storm. Each poem is emotional, real-life and inspirational - told from the perspective of a young mother, aged 23, who suffers from depression and anorexia. The book gives hope to others in similar positions, inspiring others on a journey of recovery.

What happens when a mother says she is 'fine' but really she is not? Post-natal depression (PND), an illness which affects four in ten new mothers, is still stigmatised, and devastatingly misunderstood. In Fine (not Fine), Bridget Hargreave charts her own experiences of depression following the birth of her sons and records the histories of a collection of mothers with a diverse range of perinatal mental health problems, such as anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and ante-natal depression. She includes the stories of the mother who was hospitalised with severe depression, the mother who was so anxious she was physically sick every day, the mother whose birth trauma means just hearing the word "midwife" leaves her in a cold sweat, and the mother who bravely and honestly outlines the plans she made to end her own life. Brought together by a series of interviews with mental health professionals and charities campaigning for changes in perinatal care, Fine (not Fine) tells the story of a hidden epidemic, and the remarkable people fighting it.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide. Yet most people are still unaware that heart disease is not just a man's problem. Carolyn Thomas, a heart attack survivor herself, is on a mission to educate women about their heart health. Based on her popular Heart Sisters blog, which has attracted more than 10 million views from readers in 190 countries, A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease combines personal experience and medical knowledge to help women learn how to understand and manage a catastrophic diagnosis. In A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease, Thomas explains * how to recognize the early signs of a heart attack* why women often delay seeking treatment-and how to overcome that impulse* the link between pregnancy complications and future heart disease* why so many women with heart disease are misdiagnosed-and how to help yourself get an accurate diagnosis* the importance of cardiac rehabilitation in lowering mortality risk* what to expect during your recovery from a heart attack* how the surreal process of coping with heart disease may affect your daily life* methods for treating heart disease-related depression without drugs Equal parts memoir about a misdiagnosed heart attack, guide to the predictable stages of heart disease-from grief to resilience-and patient-friendly translation of important science-based findings on women's unique heart issues, this book is an essential read. Whether you're a freshly diagnosed patient, a woman who's been living with heart disease for years, or a practitioner who cares about women's health, A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease will help you feel less alone and advocate for better health care.

Integrating interdisciplinary and cross-cultural analysis, this volume advances our understanding of sexual violence in intimacy through the development of more nuanced and evidence-based conceptual frameworks. Sexual violence in intimacy is a global pandemic that causes individual physical and emotional harm as well as wider social suffering. It is also legal and culturally condoned in much of the world. Bringing together international and interdisciplinary research, the book explores marital rape as individual suffering that is best understood in cultural and institutional context. Gendered narratives and large-scale surveys from India, Ghana and Africa Diasporas, Pacific Islands, Denmark, New Zealand, the United States, and beyond illuminate cross-cultural differences and commonalities. Methodological debates concerning etic and emic approaches and de-colonial challenges are addressed. Finally, a range of policy and intervention approaches-including art, state rhetoric, health care, and criminal justice-are explored. This book provides much needed scholarship to guide policymakers, practitioners, and activists as well as for researchers studying gender-based violence, marriage, and kinship, and the legal and public health concerns of women globally. It will be relevant for upper-level students and scholars in anthropology, sociology, psychology, women's studies, social work and public and global health.

This book addresses the politics of global health and social justice issues around birth, focusing on dynamic communities that have chosen to speak truth to power by reforming dysfunctional health care systems or creating new ones outside the box. The chapters present models of childbirth at extreme ends of a spectrum-from the conflict zones and disaster areas of Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, and Indonesia, to high-risk tertiary care settings in China, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. Debunking notions about best care, the volume illustrates how human rights in health care are on a collision course with global capitalism and offers a number of specific solutions to this ever-increasing problem. This volume will be a valuable resource for scholars and students in anthropology, sociology, health, and midwifery, as well as for practitioners, policy makers, and organizations focused on birth or on social activism in any arena.

Turning thirty years of medical and cultural wisdom on its head, Sex, Lies, and Menopause challenges both the medical establishment and modern feminists to prove that menopause does not have to be deadly.

In this revolutionary work -- a landmark that signals the true beginning of feminist medicine -- a doctor, a philosopher, and a scientist prove that by postponing marriage and motherhood, women have accelerated the aging process, resulting in earlier menopause and, ultimately for thousands, earlier death.

In Sex, Lies, and Menopause, T. S. Wiley, Julie Taguchi, M.D., and Bent Formby, Ph.D., offer strong evidence that the use of synthetic hormones leads to cancer and advise women to turn to natural hormone-replacement therapy -- derived from plants, not drugs -- to help them elevate their estrogen level for greater energy, libido, and intellectual capacity.

Provocative, empowering, and scientifically sound, Sex, Lies, and Menopause addresses the inherent benefits of natural progesterone, reveals the lies advanced by the medical and drug establishments, and challenges women to demand a medical future where their health comes first. The research presented in Sex, Lies, and Menopause will at last allow women to create their own plan of action to put themselves safely on the path to better health and hormonal balance at any stage of life.

Allen Carr's Easyway is the most successful self-help stop-smoking method of all time. It has helped millions of smokers all over the world to quit, and has since been used to treat other addictions such as drinking and gambling. Allen Carr's Easyway method works by unravelling the brainwashing that leads us to desire the very thing that is harming us, meaning that we are freed from the addiction rather than merely restricting our behavior.

The Easyway method has now been applied to the problem of emotional eating. With Allen Carr's Easyway method, you can eat as much of your favorite foods as you want, whenever you want, as often as you want, and be the exact weight you want to be, without dieting, special exercise, using willpower or feeling deprived.

Do you find that difficult to believe? Read this book.

This book studies welfare systems in Europe and beyond from the standpoint of women in vulnerable positions in society. These systems are under major transformations with new models of service delivery and management, austerity measures, requirements for cost-effectiveness, marketization, and the prioritization of services. Divided into three parts: Welfare service systems (not) responding to vulnerable situations of women Women's encounters with the welfare service system Contradictions of informal support this book considers the experiences and encounters with the service system of women in poverty, homeless women, women with substance use problems, women sentenced of crime, girls and young women in care, and refugees and asylum-seeking women. Drawing upon research and critical discussions from Finland, Canada, Israel, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, this book provides new empirical findings and critical insights, and a valuable resource for the academics and students in social work, social policy, sociology and gender studies, but also for policy makers and professionals in social and health care.

‘Fighting like a girl says I can be powerful in ways that are natural to me; I have access to power too – it may not look the same as your power, but it’s there and I can claim it.’ It should never be a woman’s job to have to protect herself – but choosing to learn about self-defence can be incredibly liberating. Fight Like a Girl is a practical beginner’s guide, in which women’s martial arts expert and survivor Della O’Sullivan draws on her years of experience to give us the tools to protect our bodies and minds. A truly empowering illustrated handbook, it includes: easy-to-follow self-defence manoeuvres how to spot red flags and protect yourself against alarming behaviour how to adopt the mindset of a survivor It is the book you’ll want to press into every woman’s hands.

Disabled women represent one of the most marginalised minority groups in the world, hence they are largely silent while their sexuality is ignored, suppressed, forbidden and buried underneath the carpet. Until recently, most of the Global Northern published literature on the subject of the sexuality of disabled women has predominantly been constructed from hearsay and second-hand narratives in studies which draw from the perspectives of parents, service providers and advocates, without much consultation of the relevant women. By facilitating the voice of disabled women in Zimbabwe and illuminating their experiences of sexuality, this book hopes to shift the experiences of sexuality of disabled women from the periphery of society to the fore. Disability and Sexuality in Zimbabwe presents original research on an issue that is thus far not found in local research data. Whilst addressing the paucity of literature on the subject, the book informs policy and practice and enhances the existing body of knowledge by making recommendations towards the development of a disability and sexuality framework that is rooted in the African context. This book is of interest to students and scholars of African studies, disability studies, sociology, psychology, social work, nursing, education studies, geography, women's and gender studies and interdisciplinary studies. Additional audiences include a wide range of health, social care, and educational professionals and practitioners, as well donors, disabled people's organisations, charities, government departments, NGOs, supranational organisations, and policy makers

From its beginnings in the 1970s and 1980s, interest in the topic of gender and migration has grown. Gender and Migration seeks to introduce the most relevant sociological theories of gender relations and migration that consider ongoing transnationalization processes, at the beginning of the third millennium. These include intersectionality, queer studies, social inequality theory and the theory of transnational migration and citizenship; all of which are brought together and illustrated by means of various empirical examples. With its explicit focus on the gendered structures of migration-sending and migration-receiving countries, Gender and Migration builds on the most current conceptual tool of gender studies-intersectionality-which calls for collective research on gender with analysis of class, ethnicity/race, sexuality, age and other axes of inequality in the context of transnational migration and mobility. The book also includes descriptions of a number of recommended films that illustrate transnational migrant masculinities and femininities within and outside of Europe. A refreshing attempt to bring in considerations of queer theory and sexual identity in the area of gender migration studies, this insightful volume will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as sociology, social anthropology, political science, intersectional studies and transnational migration.

Women have their own distinctive biology and health issues: menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, and breast cancer -- to name a few. Many vitamins, minerals, herbal remedies, and medicinal foods can help them adjust to the changes in their bodies. The Basic Health Publications User's Guide to Women's Health Supplements explains how vitamins, minerals, and herbs can help women feel better and stay healthier.

Are you tired? Achy? Depressed? Overweight?
You could be suffering from an autoimmune disease.

Autoimmune disease is the third major category of illness in the United States, yet very little is known about the many serious and chronic immune conditions. If you're one of the 50 million Americans suffering from one kind of autoimmune disease-whether it's lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, thyroid disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or Crohn's disease-there's a good chance you'll develop another.

Written by Mary J. Shomon, a well-known patient advocate who was diagnosed with autoimmune disease in 1995, this guide to alternative and natural remedies shows you how to treat the underlying causes of immune system imbalance, not just the symptoms. It contains first-person accounts from doctors, patients, and holistic practitioners, as well as checklists, quizzes, and a proposed recovery plan. In addition, it offers detailed information about:

• The most common autoimmune conditions • The factors that can lead to autoimmune disease • Interpreting your symptoms • Procedures and treatments • Finding the right doctor

Until we find a cure, living with autoimmune disease can be frightening and frustrating. But it doesn't have to be. This valuable guide helps you understand what may be causing the disorder and helps you take the first healthy, natural steps toward correcting it.

This ground breaking book is an innovative, passionate and provocative exploration of intersectionality. The sustained emphasis on activism and practice reasserts the potency of intersectionality borne out of Black feminism. The rare and pioneering international reach of this book crosses four continents. In this book context matters: there is no intersectionality without context! Resting on the premise that we cannot work for the liberation of individuals, communities and societies without intersectionality, this book asks: How does intersectionality challenge the structures and discourses of social work education, management and organisation? What is the revolutionary potential of intersectionality? Intersectional in its method and content, the blend of practice, activism, research and theory troubles geopolitical and disciplinary boundaries. The range of topics include: Islamophobia, immigration, feminist movements, social work education, violence against women and girls, gender, sexuality, race, disability, age, religion, nationality, citizenship policy and legal frameworks. This book will appeal to activists for social justice, social work practitioners, researchers, lecturers, students and those working in the field of Black feminist thinking. The focus on the activism of intersectionality provides a clear pathway into Black feminist thinking and its application to social work internationally and to emancipatory collective political activism worldwide.

Women have long needed a book devoted to their unique issues with diabetes. This up-to-date and practical guide advocates simple lifestyle changes that can help women reduce their risk of getting diabetes or, if already diagnosed, prevent the disease's most serious complications. "Every Woman's Guide to Diabetes" translates the latest findings from diabetes research into proven strategies busy women can use to stay healthy and gain control over an often overwhelming disease. The authors discuss the nature of diabetes, helping readers through the complex medical decisions involved in diabetes treatment. They highlight strategies to decrease the emotional stress and social isolation that often accompany diagnosis, and offer everyday techniques for managing blood sugar.

Key features include: unique aspects of diabetes for women throughout the life cycle timetable of recommended tests and check-ups guide to medications with common dosages charts to help organize diabetes-care tasks and supplies time-management tips for better disease regulation guide to contraceptives available to women with diabetes review of issues critical to women before, during, and following pregnancy advice for overcoming barriers to weight loss and exercise plan for intelligent diet trade-offs while still enjoying meals practical tips for planning exercise strategies to avoid diabetes "burn-out"

Written by two physicians, one of whom is a woman living with diabetes, and an experienced medical writer, "Every Woman's Guide to Diabetes" recognizes the power that women have in their households to effect lifestyle changes that will benefit themselves and loved ones, including their mothers, daughters, sisters, and partners. This power can reduce the toll of the diabetes epidemic.

Something's up down below ... Urinary tract infections result in 8.1 million visits to a doctor every year, and between 50 per cent and 60 per cent of adult women will have at least one UTI in their lifetime. Meanwhile, overactive bladder affects nearly one in five of the over-40, yet many people wait up to 15 years before seeking treatment. Maybe it's time we started taking pee a bit more seriously ... Home and Dry is the ultimate guide to the bladder; not only will it help you to overcome problems such as recurrent infections or needing the bathroom all the time, it will also inspire wonder for a fascinating part of the body that we usually try to ignore. Using the latest research, Birgit Bulla explores the biggest problem area for women's health, and shows how taking care of your bladder will make you feel a whole lot better.

"I can be a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a woman without having periods." This book explores two of the oldest and most important symbols of all time: menstruation and secondary amenorrhea. Women of menstruating age commonly experience secondary amenorrhea - a cessation of periods - but most people have never heard of the term, nor do they realise what it represents. Danielle Redland's curiosity as to why this is posits that menstrual conditions need to be decoded, not just simply treated. Surveying menstruation and Secondary Amenorrhea (SA) principally from a psychoanalytic perspective, with sociocultural, historical, political and religious angles also examined, Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Women, Menstruation and Secondary Amenorrhea draws secondary amenorrhea out of the shadows of its menstruating counterpart, and explores how narratives of womanhood and statehood dominate. Chapters on blood ideology and war amenorrhea, on Freud's treatment of Emma Eckstein and on the psycho-mythology of Pygmalion, present the reader with visions beyond patriarchy towards more thoughtful ideas on the feminine, challenging assumptions about gender, identity and what is deemed "good" for women. Rich in clinical examples, the book locates menses and their cessation at the heart of personal experience and examines psychosomatic phenomena, the link between psyche and body and the value of interpretation. From the author's own analysis to a variety of cases linked to hysteria, anorexia, stress, trauma, abuse, helplessness and hopelessness, individual stories and narratives are sensitively recovered and carefully revealed. This refreshing example of multi-layered research and psychoanalytic enquiry by a new, female writer will be of great interest to psychologists, psychotherapists, healthcare and social work professionals and readers of gender studies, history, politics and literature.

Balance your hormones and increase energy naturally with these delicious vegan and gluten-free recipes! This cookbook features 80 recipes with nutrients and ingredients that will help you look and feel your best at any time of the month. Whether you are seeking a fertility diet or aiming to achieve natural hormone balance, this cookbook gives you the tools and information you need to eat healthier and get started today. Recipes Include: Blackberry Compote Chocolate Oatmeal - Sweet Potato Pancakes - Crunchy Spring Roll in a Bowl - "Cheesy" Bean and Veggie Quesadillas - Spicy Kung Pao Beets - Pumpkin Hummus - Superfood Snack Bars - Salted Pistachio Tahini Freezer Fudge - Banana Bonbons - Pineapple Green Juice Ice Pops - and more! *Note: While the recipes in this book were created with women in mind, they include all-natural ingredients that are healthy for everyone, regardless of age and gender!

This book presents new interdisciplinary and intersectional research about women as mothers, highlighting that alternative accounts of mothering can challenge normative societal assumptions and broaden understandings of women as mothers, mothering and motherhoods. Mothering occurs within unequal power relations associated with the disadvantages and privileges of an unjust and patriarchal society. Social inequalities associated with gender, race, class, age, ability, sexuality, violence and nationalism intersect in the lives of women as mothers, to shape their lived experiences and perspectives on mothering. Showcasing the breadth and depth of feminist research on mothering, this book gives attention to the diversity of ways in which mothering is constructed and responded to as well as how mothering is experienced. Drawing on intersectional feminist thought, the book challenges normative visions of 'good mothering' and interrogates constructs of 'bad mothering'. It brings together insights from multidisciplinary scholars who use feminist approaches in their research on mothering, to inform policy development and practice when working with women as mothers in diverse circumstances. Intersections of Mothering highlights the complexities of mothering in a contemporary world, show the benefits of considering mothering through an intersectional feminist lens, make visible lived experiences of mothers and provides challenges to dominant imaginings of and service responses to women as mothers. Intersections of Mothering will be essential reading for interdisciplinary scholars and students in criminology, gender and women's studies, motherhood studies, social welfare, social work, social policy and public health policy, in addition to practitioners and policy workers that respond to women as mothers.

Despite the backlash against hormone replacement therapy, the depletion of natural hormones in the female body continues to be a problem for women at middle age and beyond. Remedying the problem has proved difficult for women and doctors who are unaware of, or reluctant to prescribe, bioidential hormones-those that match identically the hormones made naturally in the human body. Moods, Emotions, and Aging: Hormones and the Mind Body Connection explains the vital link for women between hormones, mood, and wellness. It outlines the dramatic hormonal shifts that women undergo in the years before menopause, and presents an approach to combining bioidentical hormone therapy with nutrients to achieve mood balance during midlife and beyond. Phyllis Bronson explains the differences between synthetic and bioidentical hormones, and offers vignettes of women who have used bioidentical hormones to help them deal with the changes that accompany natural hormone loss. This is a groundbreaking book for general readers written by a scientist who is able to take the mystery and the hype out of the hormone controversy. It is intended to empower women, along with their doctors, to make better and more informed choices about their health and well-being as they approach a time in their lives when things can seem like they are spinning out of control. The link between hormones, mood, emotions, and overall wellbeing is a powerful one, and when women are aware of it, they can take steps to bring themselves into better balance physically and emotionally. Here, Bronson shows them how.

The current (postfeminist) gender order comprises a highly complex coexistence of old and new norms and expectations, freedom and constraints, within a neoliberal social order underpinned by individualism and involving a shift in gender performance by men and women. Health, illness and disease at different points in the life course can be used as a vehicle to illuminate structural and cultural inequalities that persist despite several decades of progressive reform in western countries. This collection brings together a number of key researchers, both established and new to the field, and based across North America, Australia, the UK and Europe, and comprises both empirical and theoretical work. Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary fields, including medical sociology, medical anthropology, nursing, gender studies, sociology of risk and age studies, all authors use heath, well-being, illness and disease as a lens through which to explore the complexities and inequalities associated with late modernity. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of age studies, medical sociology and anthropology, gender studies, healthcare and nursing.