This highly accessible combination of articles with readable and teachable supporting introductions and text enables students to understand assigned readings well enough to be able to come to class ready to ask intelligent questions and engage in critical discussion.

Gender: The Basics is an engaging introduction to the influence of cultural, historical, biological, psychological, and economic forces on ways in which we have come to define and experience femininity and masculinity, and on the impact and importance of gender categories. Highlighting that there is far more to gender than biological sex, it examines theories and research about how and why gender categories and identities are developed and about how interpersonal and societal power relationships are gendered. It takes a global and intersectional perspective to examine the interaction between gender and a wide range of topics including: Relationships, intimacy, and concepts of sexuality across the lifespan The workplace and labour markets Gender related violence and war Public health, poverty, and development Gender and public leadership This new edition includes increased coverage of trans visibility and activism, LGBTQ studies and critical masculinity studies, global developments in women’s political leadership, links between gender and economic wellbeing, and cyberbullying. Supporting theory with examples and case studies from a variety of contexts, suggestions for further reading, and a detailed glossary, this text is an essential read for anyone approaching the study of gender for the first time.

Women’s Studies: The Basics is an accessible introduction into the ever expanding and increasingly relevant field of studies focused on women. Tracing the history of the discipline from its origins, this text sets out the main agendas of women’s studies and feminism, exploring the global development of the subject over time, and highlighting its relevance in the contemporary world. Reflecting the diversity of the field, core themes include: the interdisciplinary nature of women’s studies core feminist theories and the feminist agenda issues of intersectionality: women, race, class and gender women, sexuality and the body global perspectives on the study of women the relationship between women’s studies and gender studies. Providing a firm foundation for all those new to the subject, this book is valuable reading for undergraduates and postgraduates majoring in women’s studies and gender studies, and all those in related disciplines seeking a helpful overview for women-centred, subject specific courses.

Pushing the boundaries of traditional sex, gender, and sexuality theories, the second edition of this edited volume brings together classic and cutting-edge works that engage, challenge, and excite. The directed reading questions before each article provides students and faculty with aroadmap, as well as the foundations to lively in-class discussions. The front-and-center list of Key Terms will prove indispensable. This fantastic resource brings together sex, gender, and sexuality through the prism of race, ethnicity, religion, ability, age, and class.

Follow Wendy Ward’s tutorials to make a capsule wardrobe of 20 classic garments, suitable for any body regardless of gender, age, or body shape. Wendy’s style is functional but beautiful basics, and you will learn the skills to make clothes out of both woven and knitted fabrics that are a joy to wear. There are five styles of button-down shirts, sweatshirts, and t-shirts, and three different styles of trousers, jackets, and jumpsuits, all made in versatile fabrics that can be dressed up or down. These are core basics that you'll turn to time and again and all these garments can be worn by any body, regardless of gender, age, and body shape. Suitable for both beginners and those more experienced in dressmaking, each project has multiple versions from easy to more technically challenging. Plus, there is a comprehensive techniques section covering everything from sewing a fly zipper to making a traditional shirt collar, alongside the fundamentals such as different seam and hem finishes. Patterns for the five basic garments and all the variations to make 20 different designs are included in the book on three pull-out, full-scale, multi-sized pattern sheets. Each pattern covers 10 sizes and there’s no need for downloading or scaling-up patterns, just trace off the pieces that you need and off you go!

Everyday Women’s and Gender Studies is a text-reader that offers instructors a new way to approach an introductory course on women’s and gender studies. This book highlights major concepts that organize the diverse work in this field: Knowledges, Identities, Equalities, Bodies, Places, and Representations. Its focus on "the everyday" speaks to the importance this book places on students understanding the taken-for granted circumstances of their daily lives. Precisely because it is not the same for everyone, the everyday becomes the ideal location for cultivating students’ intellectual capacities as well as their political investigations and interventions. In addition to exploring each concept in detail, each chapter includes up to five short recently published readings that illuminate an aspect of that concept. Everyday Women’s and Gender Studies explores the idea that "People are different, and the world isn’t fair," and engages students in the inevitably complicated follow-up question, "Now that we know, how shall we live?"

What does sexual orientation mean if the very categories of gender are in question? How do we measure equality when our society’s definitions of “male” and “female” leave out much of the population? There is no consensus on what a “real” man or woman is, where one’s sex begins and ends, or what purpose the categories of masculine and feminine traits serve. While significant strides have been made in recent years on behalf of women’s, gay and lesbian rights, there is still a large division between the law and day-to-day reality for LGBTQIA and female-identified individuals in American society. The practices, media outlets and institutions that privilege heterosexuality and traditional gender roles as “natural” need a closer examination. Gender & Sexuality For Beginners considers the uses and limitations of biology in defining gender. Questioning gender and sex as both categories and forms of compulsory identification, it critically examines the issues in the historical and contemporary construction, meaning and perpetuation of gender roles. Gender & Sexuality For Beginners interweaves neurobiology, psychology, feminist, queer and trans theory, as well as historical gay and lesbian activism to offer new perspectives on gender inequality, ultimately pointing to the clear inadequacy of gender categories and the ways in which the sex-gender system oppresses us all.