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Reviews:
The author, Rose Weitz, Arizona State University,
03/04/98 An important anthology on a critical issue
This book is the first anthology to bring together recent critical writings
on how the female body and ideas about the female body affect women's lives.
The book draws from a wide range of disciplines, and covers topics as diverse
as the impact of homophobia on women athletes, the sources of violence against
women, and the consequences of the "fetal rights" movement. The
Politics of Women's Bodies begins by looking at how ideas about women's
bodies become culturally accepted. As the writings in the first section
demonstrates, this is a political process, which can reflect, reinforce,
or challenge the distribution of power between men and women. Subsequent
sections look at how, once ideas about women's bodies become accepted, they
can serve as powerful--and political--tools for controlling women's appearance,
sexuality, and behavior. Yet women are not always passive victims of cultural
ideas; rather, they sometimes either collaborate in or resist them. Consequently,
this volume also examines the potential for and limits on women's resistance
to ideas about female bodies. Each section incorporates materials on class,
ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation.
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