Mona Chollet's In Defense of Witches is a “brilliant, well-documented” celebration (Le Monde) by an acclaimed French feminist of the witch as a symbol of female rebellion and independence in the face of misogyny and persecution.

Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed?

Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted: the independent woman, since widows and celibates were particularly targeted; the childless woman, since the time of the hunts marked the end of tolerance for those who claimed to control their fertility; and the elderly woman, who has always been an object of at best, pity, and at worst, horror. Examining modern society, Chollet concludes that these women continue to be harrassed and oppressed. Rather than being a brief moment in history, the persecution of witches is an example of society’s seemingly eternal misogyny, while women today are direct descendants to those who were hunted down and killed for their thoughts and actions.

With fiery prose and arguments that range from the scholarly to the cultural, In Defense of Witches seeks to unite the mythic image of the witch with modern women who live their lives on their own terms.

The bestselling author of The XX Brain shows women how to navigate menopause successfully and come out the other side with an even better brain.

Menopause and perimenopause are still baffling to most doctors, leaving patients exasperated as they grapple with symptoms ranging from hot flashes to insomnia to brain fog. As a leading neuroscientist and women's brain health specialist, Dr Mosconi unravels these mysteries by revealing how menopause doesn't just impact the ovaries - it's a hormonal show in which the brain takes centre stage.

The decline of the hormone estrogen during menopause influences everything from body temperature to mood to memory, potentially paving the way for cognitive decline later in life. To conquer these challenges successfully, Dr. Mosconi brings us the latest approaches - explaining the role of cutting-edge hormone replacement therapies like 'designer estrogens,' hormonal contraception and key lifestyle changes encompassing diet, exercise and self-care.

Best of all, Dr Mosconi dispels the myth that menopause signifies an end, demonstrating that it's actually a transition. Contrary to popular belief, if we know how to take care of ourselves during menopause, we can emerge with a renewed, enhanced brain - ushering in a meaningful and vibrant new chapter of life.

A coming-of-age travel memoir that probes thorny spiritual questions while taking the reader on a wild ride from the deep American South to the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East. Once the golden girl of her Arkansas town, Natalie finds herself squeezed under small town shame and rejection after being kicked out of church for getting a divorce. It's a hard fall off of a sanctimonious high horse, and religious fundamentalism has left her feeling broken and stuck. But she can't shake the 'wanderlust woes' that have plagued her since childhood, so she runs away to the Middle East. As a mostly-sheltered Southerner, she struggles to adapt but is determined to be 'at home' in the world. Her journey is more than a pilgrimage, it's a peregrination: a one-way ticket to elsewhere in search of the place of her own resurrection. Within these pages is a suspenseful adventure filled with love, loss, laughter, tears, and a little bit of scandalous behavior, but at the heart of it, Natalie walks squarely into the unknown to confront the secret matters of the soul that we wrestle with at night.

The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe provides a comprehensive overview of the gender rules encountered in Europe in the period between approximately 500 and 1500 C.E. The essays collected in this volume speak to interpretative challenges common to all fields of women's and gender history - that is, how best to uncover the experiences of ordinary people from archives formed mainly by and about elite males, and how to combine social histories of lived experiences with cultural histories of gendered discourses and identities. The collection focuses on Western Europe in the Middle Ages but offers some consideration of medieval Islam and Byzantium, opening these fields for further research. The Handbook is structured into seven sections: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thought; law in theory and practice; domestic life and material culture; labour, land, and economy; bodies and sexualities; gender and holiness; and the interplay of continuity and change throughout the medieval period. This Handbook contains material from some of the foremost scholars in this field, and will not only serve as the major reference text in the area of medieval and gender studies, but will also provide the agenda for future new research.

For most of recorded history, women have been sidelined, if not silenced, by men who named the built environment after themselves. Now is the time to look unflinchingly at Scotland's heritage and bring those women who have been ignored to light. Can you imagine a different Scotland, a Scotland where women are commemorated in statues and streets and buildings - even in the hills and valleys? This is a guidebook to that alternative nation, where the cave on Staffa is named after Malvina rather than Fingal, and Arthur's Seat isn't Arthur's, it belongs to St Triduana. You arrive into Dundee at Slessor Station and the Victorian monument on Stirling's Abbey Hill interprets national identity through the women who ran hospitals during the First World War. The West Highland Way ends at Fort Mary. The Old Lady of Hoy is a prominent Orkney landmark. And the plinths in central Glasgow proudly display statues of the suffragettes who fought until they won. In this guide, streets, buildings, statues and monuments are dedicated to real women, telling their often unknown stories.

"Every man should read this book." -Jay Heinrichs, author of Thank You for Arguing 75 women writers, ages 20 to 89, were invited by editor Gina Barreca to make a party out of their life's most unnerving, challenging, illuminating, desperate, and hilarious moments. You know many of these brilliant women, but you've never heard them like this! With new works commissioned for the book from: Marge Piercy, NYT Bestseller and member of the American Academy of Poets Jane Smiley, Pulitzer-Prize winner Mimi Pond, NYT bestseller graphic artist Liza Donnelly, New Yorker staff cartoonist Fay Weldon, Commander of the British Empire Ilene Beckerman, bestselling author of Love, Loss, and What I Wore Nicole Hollander, Sylvia creator Lisa Landry and Leighann Lord, stand-up comics And many more! Political campaigners, devoted teachers, lousy daughters, good mothers, would-be nuns, admired sportswriters, grad-school-wanna-bes, revenge-driven sisters, frustrated roommates, body-fluid-sorting professionals, lace-loving fashion mavens, intrepid daters, hungry lovers, justice-seeking nasty-women, ACE wedding celebrants, trapped wives, and women with all kinds of ammunition tell their stories-and their stories are all under 750 words.

From the best-selling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists comes a powerful new statement about feminism today - written as a letter to a friend. A few years ago, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a dear friend from childhood, asking her how to raise her baby girl as a feminist. Dear Ijeawele is Adichie's letter of response. Here are fifteen invaluable suggestions-compelling, direct, wryly funny, and perceptive-for how to empower a daughter to become a strong, independent woman. From encouraging her to choose a helicopter, and not only a doll, as a toy if she so desires; having open conversations with her about clothes, makeup, and sexuality; debunking the myth that women are somehow biologically arranged to be in the kitchen making dinner, and that men can "allow" women to have full careers, Dear Ijeawele goes right to the heart of sexual politics in the twenty-first century. It will start a new and urgently needed conversation about what it really means to be a woman today.

In Successful Women Think Differently, Valorie Burton helps women create new thought processes that empower them to succeed in their relationships, finances, work, health, and spiritual life. In this powerful and practical guide, women will gain insight into who they really are and receive the tools, knowledge, and understanding to succeed.

You Are Capable of Far More Than You Know

The most successful women make decisions differently, set goals differently, and bounce back from adversity differently. The difference is not so much about the steps they take, but how they think in the face of obstacles and opportunities on the path to success. The truth is, scientific studies are proving what the ancient wisdom of Scripture has shown all along: You are what you think.

Award-winning author and life coach Valorie Burton teaches research-based, spiritually grounded habits that help you:

• Identify and enhance your thinking style and mindset
• Unlock the resilience-boosting power of positive emotion
• Replace overwhelm and regret with clarity and contentment
• Become more decisive and confident
• Bounce back from setbacks faster and stronger than ever

With over 100 self-coaching questions, this book helps you lay the foundation for authentic success – a life of true purpose, resilience and joy.

Understand: Dare: Thrive, how to have your best career from today is essential reading for all women, and all champions of equity, diversity and inclusion. Every insight and answer that matters is here, in one place. In this ground-breaking book, leading authority Diana Parkes - business guru, psychologist and social entrepreneur - cuts through the complexity of workplace dynamics and human psychology to share what really works. She provides everything you need to know to thrive throughout your career, at the pace you choose, with the recognition and rewards you deserve. Comprehensive, proven strategies for success Real stories - in the words of women who've cracked it! Practical examples of how to handle everyday challenges 24 powerful self-assessment and planning tools Incisive coaching questions in every chapter

This Research Handbook highlights the importance of women as agents of change, acknowledging women entrepreneurs' efforts and supporting their value-creation activities. With important implications for policymaking, contributing authors direct attention to and provide evidence for the positive contribution of women entrepreneurs to the economy, regardless of their businesses' size and formal status. Challenging the underperformance hypothesis associated with women entrepreneurs, chapters present evidence that women do not underperform in their businesses, but that they add value even in constrained environments. This intends to shift the focus of research from questions like 'what do entrepreneurs do?' to 'how do they do it?', focusing on the unique ways in which each woman entrepreneur creates value, and 'for whom do they do it?', looking at the multiple value outcomes women entrepreneurs create and the beneficiaries of that value. With a global perspective on women's entrepreneurship and their value creation, this Research Handbook will be vital reading for researchers of entrepreneurship, as well as government agencies and policymakers interested in promoting entrepreneurial activity.

Supercharge your game and claim your victory with this powerful collection of uplifting words from kickass women in sport Inside every woman is a lioness just waiting to break free. This feisty feline is independent, brave, strong and agile. She is ready to acknowledge and shout about her power. She wants to crush her goals. She believes she deserves to live her life courageously and to the full. All she needs is for you to open your heart and set her free. This small-but-mighty book is the perfect companion on your journey to attaining the unshakeable confidence of a lioness. Inside you'll find empowering quotes from sporting legends all the way from Billie Jean King right up to Leah Williamson. Let these bold words from badass women inspire you to find your pride of supportive sisters, reach for your dreams, and celebrate every success along the way. Stay fierce and fearless - unleash your inner lioness and hear her roar!

In 1899, Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as head of the National American Women Suffrage Association, argued that it was the "duty" of U.S. women to help lift the inhabitants of its new island possessions up from "barbarism" to "civilization," a project that would presumably demonstrate the capacity of U.S. women for full citizenship and political rights. Catt, like many suffragists in her day, was well-versed in the language of empire, and infused the cause of suffrage with imperialist zeal in public debate. Unlike their predecessors, who were working for votes for women within the context of slavery and abolition, the next generation of suffragists argued their case against the backdrop of the U.S. expansionism into Indian and Mormon territory at home as well as overseas in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. In this book, Allison L. Sneider carefully examines these simultaneous political movements--woman suffrage and American imperialism--as inextricably intertwined phenomena, instructively complicating the histories of both.

Literary Feminisms provides a map for charting the difficult waters that feminist theories have created in literary studies. Ruth Robbins shows the reasons for the development of feminist literary critiques, explains the difficulties and exposes some of feminism's blindspots. A wide range of theorists is discussed, ranging from Wollstonecraft to Kristeva, showing the ways in which materialist, psychoanalytic and literary accounts of feminist thinking creatively intersect. Through a series of exemplary readings, of texts such as The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Yellow Wallpaper, she also points out how the student reader can begin to make her or his own feminist criticism, and can learn to engage with both the politics and poetics of the literature.

A revised and updated edition of Emily Nagoski’s game-changing New York Times bestseller Come As You Are, featuring new information and research on mindfulness, desire, and pleasure that will radically transform your sex life.

For much of the 20th and 21st centuries, women’s sexuality was an uncharted territory in science, studied far less frequently—and far less seriously—than its male counterpart.

That is, until Emily Nagoski’s Come As You Are, which used groundbreaking science and research to prove that the most important factor in creating and sustaining a sex life filled with confidence and joy is not what the parts are or how they’re organized but how you feel about them. In the years since the book’s initial publication, countless women have learned through Nagoski’s accessible and informative guide that things like stress, mood, trust, and body image are not peripheral factors in a woman’s sexual wellbeing; they are central to it—and that even if you don’t always feel like it, you are already sexually whole by just being yourself.

This revised and updated edition continues that mission with new information and advanced research, demystifying and decoding the science of sex so that everyone can create a better sex life and discover more pleasure than you ever thought possible.

Both India and South Africa have shared the infamy of being labelled the world's 'rape capitals', with high levels of everyday gender-based and sexual violence. At the same time, both boast long histories of resisting such violence and its location in wider cultures of patriarchy, settler colonialism and class and caste privilege.

Through the lens of the #MeToo moment, the book tracks histories of feminist organising in both countries, while also revealing how newer strategies extended or limited these struggles.

Intimacy and injury is a timely mapping of a shifting political field around gender-based violence in the global south. In proposing comparative, interdisciplinary, ethnographically rich and analytically astute reflections on #MeToo, it provides new and potentially transformative directions to scholarly debates this book builds transnational feminist knowledge and solidarity in and across the global south.

Captive of the Labyrinth is reissued here to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of rifle heiress Sarah L. Winchester in 1922. After inheriting a vast fortune upon the death of her husband in 1881, Winchester purchased a simple farmhouse in San JosE, California. She built additions to the house and continued construction for the next twenty years. When neighbors and the local press could not imagine her motivations, they invented fanciful ones of their own. She was accused of being a ghost-obsessed spiritualist, and to this day it is largely believed that the extensive construction she executed on her San JosE house was done to thwart death and appease the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle. Author and historian Mary Jo Ignoffo's definitive biography unearths the truth about this reclusive eccentric, revealing that she was not a maddened spiritualist driven by remorse but an intelligent, articulate woman who sought to protect her private life amidst the chaos of her public existence and the social mores of the time. The author takes readers through Winchester's several homes, explores her private life, and, by excerpting from personal correspondence, one learns the widow's true priority was not dissipating her fortune on the mansion in San JosE but endowing a hospital to eradicate a dread disease. Sarah Winchester has been exploited for profit for over a century, but Captive of the Labyrinth finally puts to rest the myths about this American heiress, and, in the process, uncovers her true legacies.

In a world where women continue to face additional challenges to men, 'Understand: Dare: Thrive' delves into the underlying causes of this enduring reality and provides the insights and answers women need to enable them to thrive, across their whole working life. Businesswoman, psychologist and social entrepreneur Diana Parkes draws upon her signature skills for cutting-through complexity, providing a roadmap to understand what is necessary to achieve your career goals. By exploring how success can be obtained for women in all industries, the book picks apart gender stereotypes and demonstrates how it is possible to thrive in any position, whether entry level or leadership. The book uses powerful scientific research to blow apart myths about the reasons that men and women's careers differ. It shares deep insights about human psychology, enabling us to understand the fundamental causes of gender inequality and the reasons why inequalities in workplaces persist. Everything imparted will enable you to anticipate, prevent or circumnavigate challenging situations and move towards what you always wanted to achieve. By utilising the real life experiences of over 45 ordinary women, we see journeys from all walks of life. They all forged success across a wide range of fields, living the same daily reality most women experience: limited time, scarce resources and tricky choices. While drive, resilience and emotional intelligence were their common foundation strengths, this book brings together the power of the 900 years of contemporary career success they shared - setting out pathways to achieve your dreams, no matter the odds. * * * 'Very informative and comprehensive, covering all the multi-layer issues affecting women in the workplace. It distils the experience of so many women and provides practical ways of tackling some of the big issues that are holding women back.' - Mandy Garner, Editor of Workingmums.co.uk 'A marvellous read, full of honesty, great research and powerful methods to change our core beliefs for more success at work and in life.' - Rachel Gibson, professional musician