"Critical examination of the role of identity in academic and activist feminism."
--"Women's Review of Books"

"This lively, well-edited collection of papers offers an excellent introduction to many of the issues and interests at stake."
--"The European Legacy"

In recent years, identity has come to be seen as a process rather than a fact or deterministic force. Yet, recognizable identity traits continue to draw people together and provide them with a sense of empowering commonality. Although the plasticity afforded identity has freed up rigid definitions and guidelines for affiliation, some believe that nebulous demarcations of identity may deprive women of a solid position from which to effectively contest centers of power.

Bringing together articles by well-known authors and theorists such as Audre Lourde, June Jordan, Daphne Patai, Barbara Smith, Marilyn Frye, Shane Phelan, Leila J. Rupp, Hazel Carby, and Adrienne Rich with lesser-known writers and scholars, this broad-based anthology ranges widely from personal narratives to empirical research. The book unpacks issues of race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and age, contributing a mA(c)lange of sharp, lively perspectives to current debate.

In a postmodern era of feminism, how do women come to identify, organize and mobilize themselves within a complex global network of relationships? Identity Politics in the Women's Movement offers critical examination of the inescapable role of identity in academic and activist feminism and the opportunities, challenges and conflicts identity politics pose.

First published in 1880, Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur is one of the best-selling novels of all time. Employing analytical strategies from the fields of literature, fan studies, reception history, and media research, Barbara Ryan traces Ben-Hur's popularity from 1880 to 1924. She analyzes fan mail as well as a wide range of manuscript and print sources, using as her starting place two letters in which admirers declared that they would rather be the author of Ben-Hur than to be President of the United States. Ryan's discussion of the novel in terms of its contemporary fandom makes it possible for her to dispel misconceptions about the novel's audience which include assumptions about its popularity with all Christians. She makes fascinating connections between Ben-Hur, slavery discourse, and the changing nature of U.S. politics to challenge critics who assume that Wallace consciously used a sure-fire formula. By shedding light on attempts to squash the novel's popularity, Ryan examines dramatizations of Ben-Hur by amateurs and on Broadway. Her in-depth reception history of Ben-Hur's incarnations in print and on stage establishes the novel's importance for understanding nineteenth-century U.S. literature, politics, and culture.

First published in 1880, Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur is one of the best-selling novels of all time. Employing analytical strategies from the fields of literature, fan studies, reception history, and media research, Barbara Ryan traces Ben-Hur's popularity from 1880 to 1924. She analyzes fan mail as well as a wide range of manuscript and print sources, using as her starting place two letters in which admirers declared that they would rather be the author of Ben-Hur than to be President of the United States. Ryan's discussion of the novel in terms of its contemporary fandom makes it possible for her to dispel misconceptions about the novel's audience which include assumptions about its popularity with all Christians. She makes fascinating connections between Ben-Hur, slavery discourse, and the changing nature of U.S. politics to challenge critics who assume that Wallace consciously used a sure-fire formula. By shedding light on attempts to squash the novel's popularity, Ryan examines dramatizations of Ben-Hur by amateurs and on Broadway. Her in-depth reception history of Ben-Hur's incarnations in print and on stage establishes the novel's importance for understanding nineteenth-century U.S. literature, politics, and culture.

The feminist movement is an acknowledged force for social change, and yet, as a social movement, it has received very little serious analysis or study. Barbara Ryan provides in this text an historical and comparative analyses of feminist ideology and activism, detailing feminist relations and social movement change in the women's movement in the US. The historical sweep covers the early women's movement, the suffrage movement, the emergence of contemporary feminism, and the post-1975 period of high mobilization around the Equal Rights Ammendmant (ERA). The author then traces the "post-feminist" period that followed the defeat of ERA in 1982, and the rise of a new mobilization at the end of the 1980s, which was centred on reproductive rights, and the continuing challenge to incorporate race and class differences in feminist analysis.

"Critical examination of the role of identity in academic and activist feminism."
--"Women's Review of Books"

"This lively, well-edited collection of papers offers an excellent introduction to many of the issues and interests at stake."
--"The European Legacy"

In recent years, identity has come to be seen as a process rather than a fact or deterministic force. Yet, recognizable identity traits continue to draw people together and provide them with a sense of empowering commonality. Although the plasticity afforded identity has freed up rigid definitions and guidelines for affiliation, some believe that nebulous demarcations of identity may deprive women of a solid position from which to effectively contest centers of power.

Bringing together articles by well-known authors and theorists such as Audre Lourde, June Jordan, Daphne Patai, Barbara Smith, Marilyn Frye, Shane Phelan, Leila J. Rupp, Hazel Carby, and Adrienne Rich with lesser-known writers and scholars, this broad-based anthology ranges widely from personal narratives to empirical research. The book unpacks issues of race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and age, contributing a mA(c)lange of sharp, lively perspectives to current debate.

In a postmodern era of feminism, how do women come to identify, organize and mobilize themselves within a complex global network of relationships? Identity Politics in the Women's Movement offers critical examination of the inescapable role of identity in academic and activist feminism and the opportunities, challenges and conflicts identity politics pose.

First published in 1880, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ became a best-seller. The popular novel spawned an 1899 stage adaptation, reaching audiences of over 10 million, and two highly successful film adaptations. For over a century, it has become a ubiquitous pop cultural presence, representing a deeply powerful story and monumental experience for some and a defining work of bad taste and false piety for others. The first and only collection of essays on this pivotal cultural icon, Bigger Than ""Ben-Hur"" addresses Lew Wallace's beloved classic to explore its polarizing effect and to expand the contexts within which it can be studied. In the essays gathered here, scholars approach Ben-Hur from multiple directions-religious and secular, literary, theatrical, and cinematic-to understand not just one story in varied formats but also what they term the ""Ben-Hur tradition."" Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, contributions include the rise of the Protestant novel in the United States; relationships between and among religion, spectacle, and consumerism; the ""New Woman"" in early Hollywood; and a ""wish list"" for future adaptations, among others. Together, these essays explore how this remarkably fluid story of faith, love, and revenge has remained relevant to audiences across the globe for over 130 years.

#1 Irish bestseller * Digestive problems * Bloating * Diarrhoea * Constipation * Pain Do you identify with these symptoms? Does your digestive system feel like your enemy? Is your unpredictable gut a source of embarrassment or fear, or is it holding you back? If you're a woman who's answered 'yes' to any of the above, you're not alone. More than two-thirds of people with IBS are female; other gut problems are also more common in women. And your needs are very specific. YOU NEED: Clear, accessible information about and insight into what female hormones can do to gut health YOU NEED: Expert guidance from a consultant gastroenterologist and a clinical dietitian and nutritionist YOU NEED: Stepped, manageable strategies to take control of your troublesome gut YOU NEED: A diet plan that focuses on your specific requirements, which is flexible, achieveable and sustainable YOU NEED: Easy-to-follow recipes that are gut-friendly, delicious and restore your digestive health YOU NEED THIS BOOK! Professor Barbara Ryan and Elaine McGowan, RD, are The Gut Experts (@thegutexperts and www.thegutexperts.com) and have treated over 60,000 patients with every kind of digestive condition and nutritional requirement. They are bringing their expertise and insights to you in this easy-to-digest book.

As slavery tore at the nation in the nineteenth century, the role of servants and slaves within the family became a heated topic, and publishers produced a steady stream of literature instructing households how to hire, treat, and discipline servants. In this book, Barbara Ryan surveys an expansive collection of these published materials from both before and after Emancipation to chart shifts in thinking about what made a good servant and how servants felt about serving non-kin, as well as changing ideas about gender, free and unfree labor, status, race, domesticity, and family life. Paying particular attention to women servants, Ryan traces the "servant problem" as it was represented in magazines like the Atlantic Monthly, Godey's Lady's Book, and Harper's Bazar. Her wide-ranging probe also culls commentary from advice literature, letters and diaries, pro- and anti-slavery propaganda, sentimental fiction, and memoirs of communitarian reform to reveal the fundamental uncertainty about what it meant for some servants to be "free" while others remained fettered to their posts.