Using various psychological theories, this book examines women's complex relations with their bodies and how attitudes toward the body affect women's sense of self. It also suggests ways to achieve a positive embodied self

This work comprises a collection of influential readings in feminist theory. It is divided into four sections: "Reading the Body"; "Bodies in Production"; "The Body Speaks"; and "Body on Stage".

Written over a span of more than two decades, the essays by Iris Marion Young collected in this volume describe diverse aspects of women's lived body experience in modern Western societies. Drawing on the ideas of several twentieth century continental philosophers--including Simone de Beauvoir, Martin Heidegger, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty--Young constructs rigorous analytic categories for interpreting embodied subjectivity. The essays combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust constraints on their freedom and opportunity that continue to burden many women. The lead essay rethinks the purpose of the category of "gender" for feminist theory, after important debates have questioned its usefulness. Other essays include reflection on the meaning of being at home and the need for privacy in old age residences as well as essays that analyze aspects of the experience of women and girls that have received little attention even in feminist theory--such as the sexuality of breasts, or menstruation as punctuation in a woman's life story. Young describes the phenomenology of moving in a pregnant body and the tactile pleasures of clothing. While academically rigorous, the essays are also written with engaging style, incorporating vivid imagery and autobiographical narrative. On Female Body Experience raises issues and takes positions that speak to scholars and students in philosophy, sociology, geography, medicine, nursing, and education.

"As pragmatic as it is compassionate, this intimate, humorous, and ultimately relaxing invitation to re-wild yourself, stripping away all that is not your true nature, will leave you inspired and curious to discover the wild woman within" (Lissa Rankin, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Mind Over Medicine). For the high-achieving modern woman today, having a successful career, a fulfilling romantic relationship, and a satisfying personal life can feel like opposing goals. It has even become difficult to take the time to enjoy the simple pleasures in lives. We are stuck in "go-mode," damaging our romantic relationships, pleasure, and creativity. But what if there were a way to experience the simplest pleasures of our lives on a deeper level, freeing the body and psyche from these destructive patterns? Beyond our current stereotypes about femininity lies the ancient wisdom of the Wild Woman archetype, a model of building a feminine "body intelligence." By embodying this archetype and using tantra--not just in the bedroom, but also to build intimate connections to our senses and physical movements--we can break harmful psychological patterns. In The Wild Woman's Way, Michaela Boehm shares practical rituals and exercises drawn from years of experience as a celebrity relationship and life counselor and an expert in tantric yoga. She reveals the power of different types of touch, while also training you in forms of meditation and stretching that increase activity and sensual pleasure.

Compassionate, biblical, and thought-provoking, Embodied is an accessible guide for Christians who want help navigating issues related to the transgender conversation. Preston Sprinkle draws on Scripture, as well as real-life stories of individuals struggling with gender dysphoria, to help you understand the complexities and emotions of this highly relevant topic. This book fills the great need for Christians to speak into the confusing and emotionally charged questions surrounding the transgender conversation. With careful research and an engaging style, Embodied explores: What it means to be transgender, nonbinary, and gender-queer, and how these identities relate to being male or female Why most stereotypes about what it means to be a man and woman come from the culture and not the Bible What the Bible says about humans created in God’s image as male and female, and how this relates to transgender experiences Moral questions surrounding medical interventions such as sex reassignment surgery Which pronouns to use and how to navigate the bathroom debate Why more and more teens are questioning their gender

As a material link between body and culture, self and other, the voice has been endlessly fascinating to artists and critics. Yet it is the voices of women that have inspired the greatest fascination, as well as the deepest ambivalence, because the female voice signifies sexual otherness as well as sexual and cultural power. Embodied Voices explores cultural manifestations of female vocality in the light of current theories of subjectivity, the body and sexual difference. The fourteen essays collected here examine a wide spectrum of discourses, including myth, literature, music, film, psychoanalysis, and critical theory. Though diverse in their critical approaches, the essays are united in their attempt to articulate the compelling yet problematic intersections of gender, voice, and embodiment as they have shaped the textual representation of women and women's self-expression in performance.

Despite several decades of feminist activism and scholarship, women’s bodies continue to be sites of control and contention both materially and symbolically. Issues such as reproductive technologies, sexual violence, objectification, motherhood, and sex trafficking, among others, constitute ongoing, pressing concerns for women’s bodies in our contemporary milieu, arguably exacerbated in a neoliberal world where bodies are instrumentalized as sites of human capital. This book engages with these themes by building on the strong tradition of feminist thought focused on women’s bodies, and by making novel contributions that reflect feminists’ concerns—both theoretically and empirically—about gender and embodiment in the present context and beyond. The collection brings together essays from a variety of feminist scholars who deploy diverse theoretical approaches, including phenomenology, pragmatism, and new materialisms, in order to examine philosophically the question of the current status of gendered bodies through cutting-edge feminist theory.