Making Sense of Women's Lives presents a wide range of writings about women's lives in the United States. Michele Plott and Lauri Umansky have drawn on their experiences as both students and professors to assemble the collection. Seeking to provide as full a sampling from a diverse and intellectually vibrant field as one volume permits, the editors have also chosen writing that makes an enjoyable read. A few of the selections here represent the undisputed 'classics' of the field. More of them constitute simply the works, drawn from academic and nonacademic sources alike, that could make a difference in understanding what it means to be female in America. Making Sense of Women's Lives is intended as the primary text in Women's Studies courses. With that usage in mind, Plott and Umansky have provided brief introductions to each article to help students understand the author's perspectives. Thought and discussion questions follow each selection. The book contains, as well, numerous "Flash Exercises" suggestions for class exercises and activities. The editors have used these activities in their courses over the past decade, in conjunction with readings in this volume, and have found that the full complement of materials coalesces into an intellectually powerful introduction to Women's Studies. A Collegiate Press book

Today's generation is the first to really speak openly about menopause—yet the medical community and popular culture fixate on the negative aspects. Now a renowned women's health expert offers a powerful guide to experiencing perimenopause and menopause as a nautral gateway into the next exciting and meaningful phase of our lives.

Making Sense of Women's Health is a comprehensive guide for women of all ages. It offers information on complementary therapies such as lifestyle and diet, vitamin supplementation, and herbs to help women make informed choices about their specific health concerns.

What story would Eve have told about picking the apple? Why is Pandora blamed for opening the box? And what about the fate of Cassandra who was blessed with knowing the future but cursed so that no one believed her? What if women had been the storytellers? Elizabeth Lesser believes that if women’s voices had been equally heard and respected throughout history, humankind would have followed different hero myths and guiding stories—stories that value caretaking, champion compassion, and elevate communication over vengeance and violence. Cassandra Speaks is about the stories we tell and how those stories become the culture. It’s about the stories we still blindly cling to, and the ones that cling to us: the origin tales, the guiding myths, the religious parables, the literature and films and fairy tales passed down through the centuries about women and men, power and war, sex and love, and the values we live by. Stories written mostly by men with lessons and laws for all of humanity. We have outgrown so many of them, and still they endure. This book is about what happens when women are the storytellers too—when we speak from our authentic voices, when we flex our values, when we become protagonists in the tales we tell about what it means to be human. Lesser has walked two main paths in her life—the spiritual path and the feminist one—paths that sometimes cross but sometimes feel at cross-purposes. Cassandra Speaks is her extraordinary merging of the two. The bestselling author of Broken Open and Marrow, Lesser is a beloved spiritual writer, as well as a leading feminist thinker. In this book she gives equal voice to the cool water of her meditative self and the fire of her feminist self. With her trademark gifts of both humor and insight, she offers a vision that transcends the either/or ideologies on both sides of the gender debate. Brilliantly structured into three distinct parts, Part One explores how history is carried forward through the stories a culture tells and values, and what we can do to balance the scales. Part Two looks at women and power and expands what it means to be courageous, daring, and strong. And Part Three offers “A Toolbox for Inner Strength.” Lesser argues that change in the culture starts with inner change, and that no one—woman or man—is immune to the corrupting influence of power. She provides inner tools to help us be both strong-willed and kind-hearted. Cassandra Speaks is a beautifully balanced synthesis of storytelling, memoir, and cultural observation. Women, men and all people will find themselves in the pages of this book, and will come away strengthened, opened, and ready to work together to create a better world for all people.

Step into the world of Alison Armstrong, where love, care, and attention from men are normal and relied upon-and a way of life available for every women. Do you have to sell our soul? Not even close. This book can be your guide, an unexpected friend, even a prophecy for your future. Funny information-packed text, illustrative charts and enlightening side-bars will deliver priceless insights into men their motivations and their inspirations. Making Sense of Men will teach you:"Why men pursue some women for sex and others for heart-felt relationships"How to tell when a man is emotionally involved"How to inspire generosity and attentiveness in all men"How you can be strong and successful-without discouraging men

Rich lessons from single women who are trying to poise their hearts between what is and what God has yet to send their way are presented in a reminder to claim God's purpose not someday, but today.

Maneuvers takes readers on a global tour of the sprawling process called "militarization." With her incisive verve and moxie, eminent feminist Cynthia Enloe shows that the people who become militarized are not just the obvious ones—executives and factory floor workers who make fighter planes, land mines, and intercontinental missiles. They are also the employees of food companies, toy companies, clothing companies, film studios, stock brokerages, and advertising agencies. Militarization is never gender-neutral, Enloe claims: It is a personal and political transformation that relies on ideas about femininity and masculinity. Films that equate action with war, condoms that are designed with a camouflage pattern, fashions that celebrate brass buttons and epaulettes, tomato soup that contains pasta shaped like Star Wars weapons—all of these contribute to militaristic values that mold our culture in both war and peace. Presenting new and groundbreaking material that builds on Enloe's acclaimed work in Does Khaki Become You? and Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, Maneuvers takes an international look at the politics of masculinity, nationalism, and globalization. Enloe ranges widely from Japan to Korea, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Britain, Israel, the United States, and many points in between. She covers a broad variety of subjects: gays in the military, the history of "camp followers," the politics of women who have sexually serviced male soldiers, married life in the military, military nurses, and the recruitment of women into the military. One chapter titled "When Soldiers Rape" explores the many facets of the issue in countries such as Chile, the Philippines, Okinawa, Rwanda, and the United States. Enloe outlines the dilemmas feminists around the globe face in trying to craft theories and strategies that support militarized women, locally and internationally, without unwittingly being militarized themselves. She explores the complicated militarized experiences of women as prostitutes, as rape victims, as mothers, as wives, as nurses, and as feminist activists, and she uncovers the "maneuvers" that military officials and their civilian supporters have made in order to ensure that each of these groups of women feel special and separate.