This book provides a thorough examination of the writings of canon lawyers in the late Middle Ages as they come to terms, both in their academic work and also in their roles as judges and advisers, with women who were not, strictly speaking, religious, but who were popularly thought of as such.

What elements of American political and rhetorical culture block the imagining—and thus, the electing—of a woman as president? Examining both major-party and third-party campaigns by women, including the 2008 campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, the authors of Woman President: Confronting Postfeminist Political Culture identify the factors that limit electoral possibilities for women. Pundits have been predicting women’s political ascendency for years. And yet, although the 2008 presidential campaign featured Hillary Clinton as an early frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination and Sarah Palin as the first female Republican vice-presidential nominee, no woman has yet held either of the top two offices. The reasons for this are complex and varied, but the authors assert that the question certainly encompasses more than the shortcomings of women candidates or the demands of the particular political moment. Instead, the authors identify a pernicious backlash against women presidential candidates—one that is expressed in both political and popular culture. In Woman President: Confronting Postfeminist Political Culture, Kristina Horn Sheeler and Karrin Vasby Anderson provide a discussion of US presidentiality as a unique rhetorical role. Within that framework, they review women’s historical and contemporary presidential bids, placing special emphasis on the 2008 campaign. They also consider how presidentiality is framed in candidate oratory, campaign journalism, film and television, digital media, and political parody.

The articles in this volume consider the prevailing standards of feminine decorum, and how these are being played with and challenged by various media. This is a collection of essays which focuses on the representation of women's bodies in historical and contemporary cultures. It discusses recent books on the subject, and compares the two different approaches to the body adopted by the soft-porn magazine "For Women", and the women's monthly "Cosmopolitan". It also examines TV cult figures, such as the "comic body" exemplified by comedienne Joe Brand, and situation comedies such as "Absolutely Fabulous".

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Six key scholars present a feminist critique of the theory of human rights. The title of this volume, Womens’ Voices, Womens’ Rights, might be taken innocently to indicate its contents: a set of lectures given by women on the rights of women, on the failure to achieve those rights, and on the reasons and remedies for those failures. However, it also implies that womens’ rights are not simply the extension to all members of the community of the agreed-upon rights of men. Is to speak in a woman’s voice to speak in a different voice? Each lecture explores the values of Western societies, and the sources of the oppression of women within them, while many also provide a political contribution to the argument over the international context in which womens’ status seems to be under constant threat. The lectures rest on a shared commitment to the dignity, humanity, and unique individuality of each human persona tenet that underpins the human rights movement, provides the moral impetus for feminism and, indeed, is the motivating force behind Amnesty International’s campaigning on behalf of political prisoners world-wide. Ultimately, the contributors show us that to speak from the perspective of women, to adopt a woman’s voice, is to enrich our understanding of the rights of all.