Women's Studies

This is the little book that started a revolution. First published almost twenty years ago, it made women's voices heard, in their own right and with their own integrity, for virtually the first time in social scientific theorizing about women. Its impact was immediate and continues to this day, in the academic world and beyond. Translated into sixteen languages, with more than three-quarters of a million copies sold around the world. In a Different Voice has inspired new research, new educational initiatives, and political debate-and helped many women and men to see themselves and each other in a different light.

Carol Gilligan believes that psychology has persistently and systematically misunderstood women--their motives, their moral commitments, the course of their psychological growth, and their special view of what is important in life. Here she sets out to correct psychology's misperceptions and refocus its view of female personality. The result is truly a tour de force, which may well reshape much of what psychology now has to say about female experience.

"Invites us to respond to the biblical call to pray without ceasing. ...To pray according to his Psalter is to be healed, is to bind up the brokenness of our lives."

--MELANIE A. MAY

editor of Women and Church: The Challenge of Ecumenical Solidarit

Writing across theological disciplines, nine African American women scholars reflect on what it means to live as responsible doers of justice. With some classic essays and some contributions published here for the first time, each chapter in this new volume in the Library of Theological Ethics series presents analytical strategies for understanding the story of womanist scholarship in the service of the black community.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

From the author of Where the Girls Are, a sharp and irreverent critique of how women are portrayed in today’s popular culture

Women today are inundated with conflicting messages from the mass media: they must either be strong leaders in complete command or sex kittens obsessed with finding and pleasing a man. In Enlightened Sexism, Susan J. Douglas, one of America’s most entertaining and insightful cultural critics, takes readers on a spirited journey through the television programs, popular songs, movies, and news coverage of recent years, telling a story that is nothing less than the cultural biography of a new generation of American women.

Revisiting cultural touchstones from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Survivor to Desperate Housewives, Douglas uses wit and wisdom to expose these images of women as mere fantasies of female power, assuring women and girls that the battle for equality has been won, so there’s nothing wrong with resurrecting sexist stereotypes—all in good fun, of course. She shows that these portrayals not only distract us from the real-world challenges facing women today but also drive a wedge between baby-boom women and their “millennial” daughters.

In seeking to bridge this generation gap, Douglas makes the case for casting aside these retrograde messages, showing us how to decode the mixed messages that restrict the ambitions of women of all ages. And what makes Enlightened Sexism such a pleasure to read is Douglas’s unique voice, as she blends humor with insight and offers an empathetic and sisterly guide to the images so many women love and hate with equal measure.

The world is in crisis and it seems that many are looking to women to heal the planet and our human family. Before women can step into our full potential as leaders and guides in this moment, we must individually reconnect with our deepest wisdom and with our spiritual roots; collectively heal the many dimensions of separation that keep us fragmented and ineffective as agents of social change; and globally reclaim our rightful place as spiritual leaders in service of a balanced and compassionate new paradigm.
This empowering resource engages women in an interactive exploration of the challenges and opportunities on the frontier of women's spiritual leadership. Through the voices of North American women representing a matrix of diversity--ethnically, spiritually, religiously, generationally and geographically--this book will inspire women to new expressions of their own personal leadership and invite them into powerful collaborative action. Topics include:
* How do our spiritual values inform us about living with the challenges and blessings of diversity?
* How do we stand for the greatness of each other?
* How do we catalyze our collective transformational power as women of spirit and faith?

Tammy Evevard addresses the issues women face as they struggle to find their true identity. Becoming calls women to a greater self-confidence, a deeper appreciation of their gifts and how to use them, and a clearer understanding of what it means to be an authentic, spiritually faithful woman in today s culture. Full of stories and practical advice, this book s message is clear: Belonging to God means becoming the woman you are meant to be!