Women and Fitness in American Culture explores and explodes common representations and experiences of American fitness. This book takes women's experiences as the centre of inquiry toward an understanding of the function of fitness in our lives and in our culture-at-large. Ranging from 1968 to present day, from Jane Fonda to WiiFit, from revolution to institutionalisation, from personal to political, and beyond, this book considers a broad range of topics from an interdisciplinary perspective including; generations, cultural appropriation, community development, art choreography, methodology, healing, and social justice. Drawing on her experience as a cultural theorist, educator, and fitness instructor, the author offers critical and creative approaches that reveal the limitations and possibilities of fitness. This work asks us to think about our own relationship to fitness as well as the more abstract meanings of this term and ultimately argues that a multidimensional idea of fitness has some potential to transform ourselves and our worlds...if we're willing to do the work(out).

The rise of YA dystopian literature has seen an explosion of female protagonists who are stirring young people's interest in social and political topics, awakening their civic imagination, and inspiring them to work for change. These "Girls on Fire" are intersectional and multidimensional characters. They are leaders in their communities and they challenge injustice and limited representations. The Girl on Fire fights for herself and for those who are oppressed, voiceless, or powerless. She is the hope for our shared future. This collection of essays brings together teachers and students from a variety of educational contexts to explore how to harness the cultural power of the Girl on Fire. It also tackles how to educate the real-world girls who embody the ethos of the Girl on Fire themselves. Each essay provides both theoretical foundations as well as practical, hands-on teaching tools that can be used with diverse groups of students, in formal as well as informal educational settings. This volume challenges readers to realize the symbolic power the Girl on Fire has to raise consciousness and inform action and to keep that fire burning.

Dystopia is an American Tradition and a present and future reality. The signs that we are living in a dystopia have been clear for decades. Climate change threatens our water, air, and land. Corruption, inequality, and injustice in politics create a vast divide between the rich and the poor. Racism, sexism, and homophobia divide us and oppress individuals and groups. Violence and incarceration threaten the bodies and lives of our most vulnerable. The marginalized suffer, the privileged are unhappy, and complacency and cynicism abound. In trying times, we look for heroes, and American traditions of utopia and dystopia tend to do what most traditions do-focus on men and boys as the movers and shakers, the makers (and the destroyers), and as agents of social change and the promise of the future. But times are changing and The Hunger Games transformed the game spurring an explosion of young adult (YA) dystopia that features female protagonists. Ignoring or minimizing the roles that girls and women play in the present and the future (and the past) is no longer an option. In Girls on Fire, Sarah Hentges argues that American traditions of dystopia should look to girls and women in fiction-and in the world-for inspiration toward progressive transformation in the future. She shows the ways that female protagonists act as "Girls on Fire" and reveal the injustices of the present through the lens of the future. Tracing patterns and themes and weaving together analysis of over a hundred and forty books as well as films, pop culture texts, social media, articles, feminist theory, academic analyses, and observations and students' voices from the classroom, Girls on Fire illustrates a rich tradition and a promising future. With a focus on Young Adult (YA) dystopia and female protagonists, and with particular attention to intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and power and empowerment-as well as a vision toward social justice- Girls on Fire traces trends and critiques, themes and issues, characters and plots, details and patterns...and the intersectional possibilities that fictional futures point toward. When we expand our vision and explore our collective imagination, we build a better future. Girls on Fire are ready to lead the way.

Although the ""coming of age"" story has been a popular film plot for decades, producers have only recently realized the commercial potential of targeting films to adolescent girls. Movies like ""Clueless"", ""Legally Blonde"" and ""Mean Girls"" have been successfully marketed to teenage girls, as have several well-known independent films. Important as both cultural indicators and catalysts, these films simultaneously demonstrate pop culture's influence on girls' films, and the ability of girls' films to affect pop culture and perceptions of girlhood. This critical survey of film and the modern girl concentrates largely on films of the last two decades, addressing key themes for girls within ""coming of age"" films, the changing (but not always improving) young feminine paradigm, and the ways these films can be powerful determinants of culture. The first chapter explores the ways in which girls' films construct, reinforce, challenge and dismantle mainstream conceptualizations of sexuality, race and power. The second chapter discusses mainstream limitations of ""coming of age"" narratives, including recycled plots and stars, treatments of parental and male authority, and adult conceptualizations of adolescence. The third chapter describes girls' experiences within these narratives through such conventions as attitude, teen fashion, music and dance, unsanctioned rites of passage, and race. The fourth chapter covers the negotiation of sex and sexuality, virginity and sexual empowerment.