The Politics of Women's Bodies

For the past three decades, feminist scholars have examined how the female body and ideas about the female body affect women's lives. Revised and updated in its third edition, The Politics of Women's Bodies: Sexuality, Appearance, and Behavior brings together recent critical writings in this important field. The selections reflect three themes: how ideas about women's bodies in the United States are socially constructed, how these social constructions can be used to control women's lives, and how women attempt to resist these forces. Exceptionally well-written and edited for accessibility, the articles cover a wide range of topics and also address issues of class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

Featuring eleven new cutting-edge articles, the third edition of The Politics of Women's Bodies expands the book's focus with coverage of intersexuality, fatness, body modification, images of African American and Latina women, Goth culture and women's sexuality, how poverty is marked on the female body, how boys' concerns about masculinity lead them to subjugate girls' bodies, and other issues. This edition also includes new introductions to each article that explain key concepts and put the articles in context.

A unique interdisciplinary anthology, The Politics of Women's Bodies, Third Edition, is ideal for undergraduate courses on the body or sexuality. It is also an excellent fit for introductory courses in women's studies as well as courses in women and health, feminist theory, and the psychology, anthropology, or sociology of women.