From Amazon.com Delivers Women's Studies
on behalf of amazon.com
15-09-99

* "At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States" by Linda M. Blum
* "The Good Listener: Helen Bamber, a Life Against Cruelty" by Neil Belton
* "Daughters of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad, 1700-1775" by Rebecca Larson
* "Go for the Goal: A Champion's Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life" by Mia Hamm
* "The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private" by Susan Bordo

"At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in the Contemporary United States" by Linda M. Blum
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807021407/ref=ad_b_wm_1
Nature and gender dynamics are often at cross-purposes, and it seems to be the fate of feminists in the last years of the 20th century to find themselves forever hostage in the uneasy negotiations between the two. University of New Hampshire sociologist Linda Blum's highly informative study of the cultural complexities behind the simple act of breast-feeding is yet another example of the many ways in which a contemporary woman's right to choose often finds itself in conflict with physiology's dictates. The health benefits of breast milk for infants are almost universally acknowledged--but how realistic is it for all working women to nurse? What about those mothers who have a hard time making the transition between viewing their breasts as erogenous zones and seeing them as baby's buffet? There is even controversy about what exactly constitutes breast- feeding: Are sucklings weaned at six weeks or infants fed breast-pumped milk through a bottle truly "breast" babies? Blum's analysis of such issues is respectful of the social and psychological imperatives that inform a woman's decision.

"The Good Listener: Helen Bamber, a Life Against Cruelty" by Neil Belton
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375401008/ref=ad_b_wm_1
When Helen Bamber was a little girl growing up in 1930s England, her father read sections of "Mein Kampf" to her to remind her that there was evil in the world. In 1945, at the age of 19, she traveled to the former concentration camp at Belsen to help with the physical and psychological recovery of Holocaust survivors. "Above all else," she said, "there was the need to tell you everything, over and over and over again. And this was the most significant thing for me, realizing that you had to take it all." Later in life, she became active in Amnesty International, and in 1985, she founded the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture--an organization whose name, in the words of her biographer Neil Belton, "says more than most of us wish to hear." Blending history, biography, and moral indignation, Belton presents a view of the late 20th century darkened by cruelty. Bamber's lifetime of work--protecting children in hospitals, exposing unscrupulous doctors, and international human rights activism--is interwoven with capsule biographies of people who have influenced her. Belton also delivers searing indictments of governments still inflicting torture--indictments strengthened by the wrenching stories of some of the people Bamber has helped, including Adriana Borquez, tortured under Pinochet's regime in Chile, and people who have disappeared, such as Bill Beausire, with whom Borquez was imprisoned in 1975. Any book on the subject of torture and human rights is bound to be difficult and disturbing; "The Good Listener," however, remains powerfully inspirational. Bamber maintains that the work she and her colleagues do is not heroic. She is clearly wrong.

Read "Unspeakable Acts," Amazon.com's interview with Helen Bamber
http://www.amazon.com/helen-bamber

"Daughters of Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and Abroad, 1700-1775" by Rebecca Larson http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679437622/ref=ad_b_wm_1
This startling reassessment of the place of women in colonial America tells the story of 18th-century Quaker women, describing their power in popular reform movements of that era, and exploring their redefinitions of marriage and motherhood. Colonial Quakers, like their contemporary descendants, believed that "the Holy Spirit had been planted in the hearts of all humans to inwardly teach them," and despite strict rules regarding women's dress, language, and behavior, Quaker women were never denied their claims of a direct connection to God. So when Quaker women believed they were called to preach--in meeting houses, courthouses, and private homes; to other Quakers, to Native Americans, and to ecumenical audiences; in the West Indies, England, Europe, and the American colonies--they were given the freedom to do so. Rebecca Larson begins with a deft summary of Quaker history, then moves on to consider the theological justification for women's preaching, the ways in which women discerned their callings and arranged their journeys, and the effects of these journeys on private life, on Quaker communities abroad, and on the larger culture of colonial America. She's best, however, at describing the transformations wrought by these journeys on the women's inner lives. "Thy mother is become very courageous in riding thru deep waters and over rocky mountains beyond what I could expect," one woman wrote to another's child, in 1724. "She says fear is taken away from her and that she is born up by a secret hand, which I am very glad of and thankful to the Lord for."

"Go for the Goal: A Champion's Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life" by Mia Hamm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060193425/ref=ad_b_wm_1
Mia Hamm, star of the U.S. National soccer team, Olympic gold medalist, World Cup champion, and five-time National Player of the Year, has a simple take on her talents that also explains her success: "Many people say I'm the best women's soccer player in the world. I don't think so. And because of that, someday I just might be." That's what's so appealing about Hamm as a role model, and it's the inspirational message at the heart of her autobiography. But "Goal" is only in part about herself--"There is no me in Mia," she suggests. Mixing anecdote and opinion--she insists Kristine Lilly is the best player in the world, period--with lots of solid coaching and practical advice, Hamm breaks the game down into its essential skill components (trapping, passing, dribbling, shooting, heading, goaltending) and then addresses both the mental and physical aspects of the game in prose that talks up--not down--to her target readers. Photos and tips from her teammates help her cover the field, and Hamm scores additional points with the same contagious spirit she demonstrates every time she puts on her uniform.

"The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and in Private" by Susan Bordo
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374280657/ref=ad_b_wm_1
Susan Bordo (who snagged a Pulitzer nomination for 1993's "Unbearable Weight") offers a frank, sprightly, and, yes, educational look at the male nude as an index to attitudes about sexuality in the broth of media and pop culture in which, like it or not, we all stew. While the Greeks were unafraid to celebrate masculine beauty, men have been strangely sexless throughout most of Western history--until Hollywood rediscovered the male body when Marlon Brando first shed his T-shirt in "A Streetcar Named Desire." It's only been in the '90s, however, that the male image has gone so far as to reclaim its penis. From de facto censorship to near idolatry, has ever an organ made such a journey in one brief decade? But it's not the penis alone that makes a man a man; perhaps, Bordo concludes, it's time for us to rethink our metaphors of manhood.

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