This moving and unforgettable memoir of a transgender pastor’s transition from male to female is an “audacious, gripping, and profoundly real journey that speaks to the mind, heart, and soul” (Joshua J. Dickson, director of Faith Based Initiatives, Biden Campaign)—perfect for fans of Redefining Realness and There Is Room for You. As a father of three, married to a wonderful woman, and holding several prominent jobs within the Christian community, Dr. Paula Stone Williams made the life-changing decision to physically transition from male to female at the age of sixty. Almost instantly, her power and influence in the evangelical world disappeared and her family had to grapple with intense feelings of loss and confusion. Feeling utterly alone after being expelled from the evangelical churches she had once spearheaded, Paula struggled to create a new safe space for herself where she could reconcile her faith, her identity, and her desire to be a leader. Much to her surprise, the key to her new career as a woman came with a deeper awareness of the inequities she had overlooked before her transition. Where her opinions were once celebrated and amplified, now she found herself sidelined and ignored. New questions emerged. Why are women’s opinions devalued in favor of men’s? Why does love and intimacy feel so different? And, was it possible to find a new spirituality in her own image? In As a Woman, Paula’s “critical questions about gender, personhood, and place are relevant to anyone. Her writing insightfully reveals aspects of our gender socialization and culture that often go unexamined, but that need to be talked about, challenged, and changed” (Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her) in order to fully understand what it means to be male, female, and simply, human.

Stephanie J. Shaw takes us into the inner world of American black professional women during the Jim Crow era. This is a story of struggle and empowerment, of the strength of a group of women who worked against daunting odds to improve the world for themselves and their people. Shaw's remarkable research into the lives of social workers, librarians, nurses, and teachers from the 1870s through the 1950s allows us to hear these women's voices for the first time. The women tell us, in their own words, about their families, their values, their expectations. We learn of the forces and factors that made them exceptional, and of the choices and commitments that made them leaders in their communities. What a Woman Ought to Be and to Do brings to life a world in which African-American families, communities, and schools worked to encourage the self-confidence, individual initiative, and social responsibility of girls. Shaw shows us how, in a society that denied black women full professional status, these girls embraced and in turn defined an ideal of "socially responsible individualism" that balanced private and public sphere responsibilities. A collective portrait of character shaped in the toughest circumstances, this book is more than a study of the socialization of these women as children and the organization of their work as adults. It is also a study of leadership—of how African American communities gave their daughters the power to succeed in and change a hostile world.

This book contains the oral testimony of victims of pornography, spoken on the record for the first time in history. Speaking at hearings on a groundbreaking antipornography civil rights law, women offer eloquent witness to the devastation pornography has caused in their lives. Supported by social science experts and authorities on rape, battery, and prostitution, discounted and opposed by free speech advocates and absolutists, their riveting testimony articulates the centrality of pornography to sexual abuse and inequity today. At issue in these hearings is a law conceived and drafted by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine A. MacKinnon that defines harm done through pornography as a legal injury of sex discrimination warranting civil redress. From the first set of hearings in Minneapolis in 1983 through those before the Massachusetts state legislature in 1992, the witnesses heard here expose the commonplace reality of denigration and sexual subordination due to pornography and refute the widespread notion that pornography is harmless expression that must be protected by the state. Introduced with powerful essays by MacKinnon and Dworkin, these hearings--unabridged and with each word scrupulously verified--constitute a unique record of a conflict over the meaning of democracy itself--a major civil rights struggle for our time and a fundamental crisis in United States constitutional law: Can we sacrifice the lives of women and children to a pornographer's right to free "speech"? Can we allow the First Amendment to shield sexual exploitation and predatory sexual violence? These pages contain all the arguments for protecting pornography--and dramatically document its human cost.

"In an increasingly broken world, Woman of Valor brings a much-needed call to action for women to be courageous. I encourage you to delve into this captivating book." —Lauren Perdue Olympic gold medalist in swimming Deep Down, Don't You Long to Be a World-Changer? Did you know that the famed Proverbs 31 woman was more than just a "virtuous woman"? In Hebrew, she is called a woman of valor. And if you think the Bible paints women as "less than," better look again! Inspirational speaker Marilynn Chadwick, a former agnostic, was fascinated by the powerful portrayals of women right in the pages of Scripture—courageous women who fought wars, foiled genocidal plots, and raised world-changing kids. Like these women, you were designed by God to bravely and faithfully give life to the world around you. More than just a virtuous woman, you were created to be a woman of valor. Marilynn invites you on a quest to discover your true calling. Step into real-life stories of incredible women in her own community, along with those she has met in her travels to India, Lebanon, Sudan, and more. Women who share beautiful and powerful traits you can uncover and incorporate into your own life to become a world-changing woman of valor. Includes a VALOR QUEST study guide to help you embark on a unique and life-changing journey

Is the sex/gender distinction really always fundamental to feminist thought? Arguing for a feminism of freedom inspired by Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, Toril Moi challenges dominant trends in feminist and cultural theory.

An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller A Goop Book Club Pick "If you want your breath to catch and your heart to stop, turn to Kate Baer."--Joanna Goddard, Cup of Jo A stunning and honest debut poetry collection about the beauty and hardships of being a woman in the world today, and the many roles we play - mother, partner, and friend. “When life throws you a bag of sorrow, hold out your hands/Little by little, mountains are climbed.” So ends Kate Baer’s remarkable poem “Things My Girlfriends Teach Me.” In “Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels” she challenges her reader to consider their grandmother’s cake, the taste of the sea, the cool swill of freedom. In her poem “Deliverance” about her son’s birth she writes “What is the word for when the light leaves the body?/What is the word for when it/at last, returns?” Through poems that are as unforgettably beautiful as they are accessible, Kate Bear proves herself to truly be an exemplary voice in modern poetry. Her words make women feel seen in their own bodies, in their own marriages, and in their own lives. Her poems are those you share with your mother, your daughter, your sister, and your friends.

An enlightening blueprint of the secrets of reaching female consumers from the expert Just Ask a Woman is a powerful book about how to tap into female consumers' needs. Mary Quinlan, the founder of the premiere consultancy dedicated to marketing to women, has personally interviewed 3,000 women in the course of her research for Just Ask a Woman. Women are the decision-makers in an estimated eighty-five percent of household buying decisions, and yet far too often, products marketed specifically to them fail to connect with their needs. Here, Quinlan explores topics such as how women judge brands and advertising, how they make decisions, the effects of stress on their consumer behavior, and their increasing demands for service and communication. Quinlan rejects the traditional focus group approach in favor of highly energized and intimate talk sessions where women reveal their deeper feelings about products and services. In Just Ask a Woman marketers, brand managers, and advertisers will find a revelatory resource filled with ideas and action steps for building your brand with women-from a woman who has walked in a marketer's shoes. Mary Lou Quinlan (New York, NY) is the founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, a marketing consultancy dedicated to building business with women. Just Ask a Woman is a division of bcom3, a $15 billion global communications firm whose clients include Citigroup/Women & Co., Lifetime, Saks, Hearst Magazines, Toys "R" Us, and Time Inc. Known as a brand-turnaround expert, she has helped to remake brands like Avon and Continental Airlines. Quinlan has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Fast Company and Advertising Age and appeared on ABC, CNN, CNBC, Lifetime LIVE, Fox and nationally syndicated news shows. Her articles have been published in Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and More, among others.