Lesbian mystery
A collection by Dorothy Allison.
- Breaking barriers: a history of the status of women and the role of the United Nations
Video documentary. - The moon over Crete
A children's fantasy novel. - Natalie on the street
The author befriends a homeless woman. - A rage of maidens
Lesbian mystery. - Stardust bound
Lesbian science fiction. - Women's studies graduates
Just what do people do with a degree in women's studies? - Now poof she is gone
Poetry
Sexual identity
Irvine, Janice M., editor. Sexual cultures and the construction of adolescent identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 1-56639-135-0, $44.95; paper, ISBN 1-56639-136-9, $19.95.
As teacher of an upper division college course on human development, I have been less than thrilled with current theories on adolescent development, including identity formation, but I have been totally disappointed with what I have read regarding how sexual identity is formed . . . until now. Sexual cultures and the construction of adolescent identities has provided me with a new text that examines the whole picture of sexual identiy development in a nonjudgmental, straightforward manner. In this collection of essays examining the sexual experiences, feelings, and development of Asians, Latinos, African- Americans, gay men, lesbians, and women with disabilities, the authors do not presume a heterosexual identity development for adolescents. They acknowledge all options, don't assign "aberrant" development to some sidebar, and examine sexual identity within a cultural context. As Irvine says, "Adolescent sexuality is informed by a complex set of factors, including gender, race, class, and sexual identity; and the meanings teenagers attach to sexuality and relationships will vary based on different messages and imperatives from their myriad social worlds."The first part of the book critiques theories of adolescent sexual development from various cultural perspectives. Part two examines various issues which impact adolescent development such as AIDS, ethnic issues, and disability. The final part attends to the contexts of female friendships, desirability, sex talk and other differences. This collection is a valuable resource and I, for one, will place it on my class reading list.
-- D. Granger
New Victoria Cross mystery
Sumner, Penny. Crosswords. Tallahassee, FL: Naiad Press, 1994. Paper, ISBN 1-56280-064-7, $9.95.
Following The end of April, Crosswords is the second entry in a series following the life of fictional London private eye Victoria Cross. Half the fun of books like these is the geographic location, and Sumner writes evocatively of life in London, all its wealth and poverty, together with a thriving night club scene. Sumner also makes her main characters believable, and likable, as Cross must work out the difficulty of leading a dangerous life and trying to have a love life at the same time.The mystery is well-worked out, involving a missing Chinese vase and a 25-year-old disappearance associated with it. And the reader is left wondering, till the end, just exactly who is who? Crosswords is light but pleasurable, just the thing to curl up with on these long winter nights.
-- M. Tainton
Bias-Free Dictionary
Maggio, Rosalie. The dictionary of bias-free usage: a guide to discriminatory language. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1994. Paper, ISBN 0-89774-653-8, $25.
Another entry in the field of discriminatory usage, the Dictionary is a good effort. Maggio is interested in a broad range of issues, including words and phrases that demean minorities, the poor, and women. The book is broadly inclusive, but Maggio uses specialized words without defining them, like entryman and endman, offering instead substitute terms. Some of the meanings she used may be regional uses. For example, "dick," could mean a malicious person, but this meaning is not included. When Maggio defines "circumcision," she describes male and female circumcision accurately but fails to take the opportunity to say that "female circumcision" is a euphemism that should be replaced, perhaps, with "female genital excision," or even mutilation.On the whole, however, the entries are interesting, occasionally turning into short treatises with fascinating background facts and historical detail. Many of the meanings cannot help but be loaded with political connotation, and there is plenty of room for disagreement. The Dictionary would be useful for those who do not see how they are using, according to Maggio, "hundreds of male-oriented terms that give the language an overwhelming male 'voice.'" It's too bad that the people who will use it are probably the ones who need it least.
-- M. Tainton
On the shoulders of women
Philipson, Ilene J. On the shoulders of women: the feminization of psychotherapy. New York: The Guilford Press, 1993. Cloth, ISBN 0-89862-017-1, $21.95.
On the shoulders of women: the feminization of psychotherapy presents an overview and analysis of developments in the mental health field today. Statistics have shown an increase in the number of women entering the mental health professions. At the same time, the number of men entering the field are on the decline, transforming the practice of psychotherapy into a women's field. This book looks into the future and presents an analysis of what this shift may mean for the profession and therapy in general.About 160 pages long, Shoulders comprises seven chapters, beginning with an historical overview of gender participation in the profession. A discussion follows, considering the effects the feminization of psychotherapy may have on theoretical development as well as on practitioners in the field. Philipson projects paradigm shifts in how psychopathology and human development are viewed based on the feminization of the profession and discusses the implications for practice.
Philipson presents an interesting and statistically accurate analysis of changes in the field of psychotherapy and the future consequences this may hold for therapists and clients. The book will be of interest to mental health practitioners and readers concerned with women's issues.
-- B. Beyer-Houda
Not June Cleaver
Meyerowitz, Joan, ed. Not June Cleaver: women and gender in postwar America, 1945-60. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 1-56639-170-9, $49.95; paper, ISBN 1-56639-171-7, $19.95.
Not June Cleaver: women and gender in postwar America, 1945-60 is a collection of fifteen essays reconsidering the roles of women as mothers, workers, and activists. It provides the reader with a new view of women in the postwar era, far removed from the stereotypical white, middle-class women seen in popular television shows of the 1950s. Discussions of race, gender, ethnicity, politics, alternative lifestyles, religion, and occupations create for the reader a new and more accurate view of the struggles of women in the years from 1945-1960. The book provides an insight into the unique impact women's activities had on political and social decisions of the era. Not June Cleaver will be of interest to historians, sociologists, and anyone concerned with women's issues in 20th-century United States.Essays were contributed by Xiaolan Bao, Ruth Feldstein, Deborah A. Gerson, Joan Meyerowitz and others.
-- B. Beyer-Houda
Sex and class
Allison, Dorothy. Skin: talking about sex, class & literature. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 1-56341-045-1, $26.95; paper, ISBN 1-56341-044-3, $13.95.
Dorothy Allison is still doing things with the English language most of us can only dream about. In Skin, she compiles a collection of essays previously published in such venues as New York Native, New York Times Book Review, and the Village Voice. As surprising as ever, and satisfying, Allison doesn't just react, she cogitates, never accepting the face value of anything. As a result, some of her insights are truly delightful. At times she shakes the foundations of day-to-day thinking and makes us reconsider many of the concepts and ideologies we take for granted, including those that describe ourselves.She is afraid of writing, she says, because "anything I write will reveal me as the monster I was always told I would be." In taking back her power to decide for herself, "Writing is an act that claims courage and meaning, and turns back denial, breaks open fear, and heals me as it makes possible some measure of healing for all those like me," and so she reclaims it for all of us who don't "fit in." It's hard to believe Allison feels this fear, because her work is some of the most fearless we've read.
Allison also writes about the work of writing and growing as she experienced it in some of her best-known work, including Trash and Bastard out of Carolina. These essays will be of interest to readers of Southern and Lesbian literature.
-- M. Tainton
Second to None
Moynihan, Ruth Barnes, Cynthia Russett and Laurie Crumpacker, editors. Second to none, a documentary history of American women, Volumes I and II. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 0-8032-3167-9, $45; paper, ISBN 0-8032-8205-2, $20.
Second to none is a fantastic compendium of excerpts of original writings by women. The first volume includes material from the 16th century to 1865; the second volume overs 1865 to the present. The collection is rich with accounts of American experience and cultures, from Navajo myths to textile factories, from enslavement to abolition, including suffrage, poverty, and war. Each original text is preceded by a short description of the circumstances in which it was written, and each chapter begins with a longer essay describing the historical events surrounding the texts within it.The collection is a treasure trove of original material presented in a readable and useful format, and would be a worthwhile addition to collections concerning American history as well as women's studies. It would be especially useful in high school and college libraries, and public libraries serving students.
-- M. Tainton
Lasch, Judith, executive producer. Breaking barriers: a history of the status of women and the role of the United Nations. Red Bank, NJ: Lasch Media Productions, 1994. 30 minutes, VHS with discussion guide, $49.95, Lasch Media Productions, 3 White Street, Red Bank, NJ 07701.
From the opening archive shots of the United Nations, it is hard to miss how few women are in attendance at any UN meetings. Yet the United Nations has created statements concerning the worth of the human person and asking for a recognition of economic and social contributions that women make. In 1946, Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the UN to request that they take a stand recognizing that women don't have full rights of citizenship. In recent interviews, we find that little has changed. Lasch has several interviews with members of the Non-Government Organizations Forum, to meet in conjunction with the UN Conference on Women. Esther Hymer, UN representative for the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, says "our society needs the full contribution of everyone." David Poindexter, president of Population Communications International, says there is "not a situation of equality anywhere in the world."Lasch takes a daring stand when she says, first of all, that religious and educational institutions should be leading the way towards equality for women, and next, when she says they are instead lagging behind and resisting any movement towards this goal. "Nowhere is the improvement in the status of women more slow than in the places that should set the pace. . . There has been nothing that has done more to constrict women than religious beliefs and teachings."
The video may be used at the UN Conference, and it is important to see. An article in The Catholic World Report, February 1995, calls it "an antireligious diatribe." Bill Donohue, of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, was quoted in the article as demanding "that the UN Conference on Women repudiate the video and permanently prevent any showing."
Some women representing religious NGOs were interviewed in the video. The emphasis is on how social and cultural structures and traditions resist change yet must be changed if women are to be included and fully recognized as human beings with equal rights. It sounds like the Catholics can't take the heat.
-- M. Tainton
Sreenivasan, Jyotsna. The moon over Crete. Duluth, MN: Holy Cow! Press, 1994. Paper, ISBN 0-930100-58-1, $8.95. Sim Gellman, illustrator.
Lily is 11, trying to deal with sexual harrassment from a classmate, not being taken seriously by her parents or even her friends. Fortunately, she has an understanding flute teacher who takes her time-traveling to Crete. Here she makes friends, boys aren't mean, and men and women share equally in duty as well as leisure. This book, for children of Lily's age, is simple and undemanding. Yet it paints a picture of a society where equality is a possibility, a possibility children need to grasp. Lily loves Crete so that she wants to stay, but instead, she returns with a goal: she will do what she can to bring Cretan beliefs to modern life. This is a worthy first effort by author Sreenivasan, and a worthy book for children's collections.-- M. Tainton
Nietzke, Ann. Natalie on the street. Corvallis, OR: Calyx Books, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 0-934971-42-0, $24.95; paper, ISBN 0-934971-41-2, $14.95.
Ann Nietzke does what most of us are unwilling to do: she provides fundamental aid for a homeless woman. In Nietzke's clear, personal account, she provides what assistance she can to Natalie, a 74-year-old woman who has taken up residence on the sidewalk across from her apartment. Nietzke is without mercy as she describes the trials of Natalie's daily existence. Natalie has no place to keep clean and cannot leave her possessions to relieve herself in private.If you have never thought about the practical details of such an existence, this book makes many things clear. Nietzke provides clean clothes, some of which Natalie accepts and some of which she does not, she provides materials for sponge baths, and she removes her packaged excrement. Nietzke works in a homeless shelter, so she came to the situation with an understanding of some of these needs. Nevertheless, she spares neither herself nor us. There are no easy solutions, but Nietzke, unlike most of us, does not avert her eyes. Perhaps this account of one struggle will show some of us the way to do more ourselves.
-- M. Tainton
Why shouldn't maidens be angry?
Douglas, Lauren Wright. A rage of maidens. Tallahassee, FL: Naiad Press, 1994. Paper, ISBN 1-56280-068-X, $9.95.
Caitlin Reece is one of those tough, strong, smart, feminine, unexpected detectives that make you say "Yes! We can do that, we can do all of that!" In this latest installment in the Reece series, she is hired to protect a girl, Andy, who witnessed a sexual assault on the latter's sister. Because Andy was the primary witness, the perpetrator has vowed to take revenge when he is released from prison. Now he's out, and Andy is terrified. And apparently he is up to his old tricks, working as a girls' swimming coach at the local youth center. Reece is not a superhero; she is more like a real person with real failings, and, along with a wish to protect Andy, she finds she is not free of vengeful thoughts of her own. Douglas brings it all to a very satisfying conclusion. --M. TaintonAfter the apocalypse
Cadora, Karen. Stardust bound. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 1-56341-053-2, $18.95; paper, ISBN 1-56341-052-4, $8.95.
In the future, science is a crime. Because of ecological disaster, astronomers must go underground. Out in the wilderness, a supposedly abandoned observatory is a haven for the lost, the inspired, and the misfit. Quincy Alexander is torn between loyalties to a dying friend, the possibility of new love, and a mysterious legacy, all while she and other scientists try to remain hidden from UniTech, the technocratic world government. At the heart of this struggle lies the fate of the new world order. Short but sweet, Stardust portrays the future with an ecological heart. -- M. Tainton
And what's it good for? A lot!
Luebke, Barbara F. and Mary Ellen Reilly. Women's studies graduates. New York: Teachers College Press, 1995. Cloth, ISBN 0-807762-75-x; paper, ISBN 0-807762-74-1, $21.95.
In the 1980s, when a university degree was expected to be utilitarian, i.e., a guarantor of financial stability, even success, the question "What do you do with a Women's Studies major?" was not an unfamiliar one. This book sets out to provide a significant answer by making public the results of a truly random survey of graduates from Women's Studies programs from 142 colleges and universities. Their sample comprised 89 respondents, representing a normal population in family characteristics, role models, geographical location, religious affiliation, education, occupations and incomes, and sexual orientation and relationships. The only surprising element was the low representation of minorities and the absence entirely of Hispanics among the graduates.They were asked four questions: 1. Why did you major in Women's studies; 2. how has your major affected you professionally since graduation; 3. how has it affected you personally since graduation; and 4. if you had to do it over again, would you major in Women's Studies?
The book compiles and quotes almost verbatim the responses received. I was impressed by the richness and honesty in their words. The individual stories make for worthwhile reading because any stereotypes about either the program or those who sign up are shattered even in the first section which classifies the responses by occupation. The variety of professions represented demonstrates vividly that "their degree is anything but restrictive." Words from an Energy Conservation Manager also educate the reader:
Women's Studies gave me the confidence to enter a non-traditional field - energy conservation - and to understand and diffuse problems that arise when women are entering new or different territory. What I learned was that if I wanted to succeed in a way that was possible and comfortable for me, I had to work to change the criteria for success . . . Currently I manage a program that has a lot of staff, subcontractors, etc. I run it in a cooperative and open manner, what I consider feminism at work, analyzing power relationships and turning 'power over' into 'power to'. I learned this in Women's Studies.It was a wise choice to let the respondent's words speak for themselves. In so doing, the authors have created a book of living accounts instead of a conventional collection of statistics. Those who dismiss a Women's Studies Program as a consolation for angry women or Gossip for College Credit quickly learn that graduates of the program learn to think critically, to integrate theory and practice, to understand their history and incorporate it into their lives. "These insights made them better at whatever they have done since graduation."
This study is the foundation upon which the history of a very young discipline will be based. In addition to the facts, the book assures current students that their major will not only enrich their professional lives but add immeasurably to their personal sense of self. -- C. Dudt
Rose, Wendy. Now poof she is gone. Ithaca, NY: Firebrand Books, 1994. Cloth, ISBN 1-56341-049-4, $18.95; paper, ISBN 1-56341-048-6, $8.95.
After publishing ten books of poetry, Wendy Rose conquered her "embarrassment, even shame" to share her early poems that she had tucked away. This slim collection encloses a cycle of poems about experience in a "Psycho Ward" where a woman "smolders and explodes" in "the ashes of childhood/grief for pieces lost/of baptismal names"; and poems expressing the search for identity by a person of mixed blood, crying:As for love, you are too whiteIn her deceptively simple free form, Rose expresses an insight which the reader shares. The book is divided into four sections beginning with the re-entry into life after a psychological debility; the second section, "Memoir of the Alien," marks the ongoing struggle of adaptation of the speakers' many selves amongst which is the powerful "Mark My grave with a Stick and Write this Here." In this poem the writer waits for the comets which enlightened ancestors; she keeps
for the red, too red for the white,
you are no color
or every color
or a crazy mosaic
and heyeee-eee-ee!
you will never have a fullblood baby
her glasses clean so she'll see themIn the third section, the ache is delicate in the longing to hold to the past. "Time was . . ." The final section may be characterized as the expression of violent hopelessness. Written between 1984-92, the poetry is stronger, the images more vivid than in earlier writing. Ecological realities appear of toxic blood and "dollars,/missiles in the ground ready to slash open/the innocent marsh." Increasingly, questions populate the poems until the reader, too, wonders:
if they come again, recognize them
if they're small.
Is it crazy to want to unravelIn her preface, Rose confesses that her reluctance to share these poems is because "we are taught . . . that 'great ideas' do not flow from personal issues." If so, I do not know from where they come; I believe that only the voice of the poet can summon us to come into the light of things. -- C. Dudt
dandelion gone to seed
leaving nothing behind but a dent
or not even that
to touch or burn or remember?
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