Janet Lee (3)

My school uses this anthology to teach its 200-level Intro to Women's and Gender Studies course. Students seem to enjoy it more than they expect to; the readings are mostly very short (averaging 3-8 pages each) and cover a spectrum of genres, from poetry to personal essays to academic writing.

My one complaint about this 6th edition is that it removes a few classic readings, contained in the 4th and 5th, which functioned to put the 'updated' readings of the 6th into context. For example, the 6th edition contains Vivian M. May's "Intersectionality," a reading that engages Marilyn Frye's 1983 piece "Oppression"... but in this edition "Oppression" itself is missing. May's piece mentions it but, without the original, students miss out on a reading that may be a little dated (?) but which students who used the 4th and 5th editions always seemed to enjoy. Likewise, the chapter on Reproductive Health/Justice issues no longer contains an excerpt from Margaret Sanger, although she's still mentioned in the chapter introduction. I understand the importance of keeping the bulk of the anthology up-to-date for relevance's sake, but not if that's done by switching out accessible classic readings for ostensibly more up-to-date ones which would be more easily incorporated into a class by online materials than written ones. So take the Aimee Mullins reading out, suggest that students watch her TED talk on disability instead, and put Frye back in; take the reading on Beyonce out, have students watch her 'feminist' performance in class instead, and put the Sanger back in... It's a solid textbook, but changes like those would make my 4.5 stars a 5, by leaving the best of the 'old' readings while incorporating new materials and more contemporary texts in a more accessible (online, visual) format.… (más)

i totally would have given this book five stars if not for the author's obnoxious style. the text of the book itself was great. a little dry, but packed with information. the problem was that the author put all of these boxes in the text with her own thoughts and process. it was incredibly self-serving, added nothing to the story, and in fact really hampered my enjoyment of the book. i could have stopped reading the boxes but i have a compulsion to read everything. the author also was incredibly self-serving and judgemental about the women she was writing about, and overall i just didn't enjoy her comments. but the book itself was wonderful. the story of these two women who grew up mainline protestants, converted to christian socialism, then rejected faith and put their faith instead in the communist party was absolutely fascinating. also, the story of how two women loved and remained devoted to one another over the course of forty years in a time when homosexuality was not at all acceptable. i loved reading all of the history this book packed in and how the history was seen through the eyes of these two women. definitely a great book.… (más)