Seal Studies

Professors and students alike are taking interest in Girls' Studies-the socialization of girls versus boys-and beginning to analyze the impact of media, pop culture, messaging, and more on America's girls. Girls' Studies tackles socialization and gender expectations, body image, and media impact, and gives insight into girl empowerment and how to equip our girls for a brighter future. Elline Lipkin is a Research Scholar with the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Beatrice Bain Research Group on Gender at the University of California at Berkeley, where she also taught for the departments of Comparative Literature, Gender and Women's Studies and College Writing. She graduated from Wesleyan University and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. Her first book, The Errant Thread, was chosen by Eavan Boland to receive the Kore Press First Book Award and was published by Kore Press in 2006. Her poems, essays, and criticism have appeared in a variety of contemporary journals and publications. She currently lives in Los Angeles, Calif.

Whether or not we like to admit it, pop culture is a lens through which we alternately view and shape the world around us. When it comes to feminism, pop culture aids us in translating feminist philosophies, issues, and concepts into everyday language, making them relevant and relatable. In Feminism and Pop Culture, author and cofounder of Bitch magazine Andi Zeisler traces the impact of feminism on pop culture (and vice versa) from the 1940s to the present and beyond. With a comprehensive overview of the intertwining relationship between women and pop culture, this book is an ideal introduction to discussing feminism and daily life. Andi Zeisler is a writer, editor, and cultural critic. She is the cofounder of Bitch Media, the nonprofit best known for publishing the award-winning quarterly magazine Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, which has over 50,000 subscribers. Zeisler is extremely plugged into the community of feminist bloggers, her writing on feminism, popular culture, and media has appeared in newspapers and magazines including Ms., Mother Jones, BUST, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Washington Post. She regularly speaks at colleges and universities and holds interviews in various national publications and radio programs around the country. She has been featured and interviewed in publications like the New York Times, among others.

When women decide what to wear, where to go, how to get there, what time of day to be outdoors, and what affects their sense of security and safety, are they aware that they're afraid of being sexually assaulted? Violence against women is, on a global scale, so common that some experts consider it a "normal" aspect of women's experiences-and yet research on the issue is subjective and inconsistent. Women and Violence is a comprehensive look at the issue of violence against women and its many appearances, causes, costs and consequences. Understanding that personal values, beliefs, and environment affect an individual's response to-and acknowledgement of-violence against women, this book addresses topics such as global perspectives on violence, controversies and debates, and social change strategies and activism. Barrie Levy is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice, and a faculty member in the Department of Social Welfare, School of Public Policy, and the Women's Studies Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Dating Violence: Young Women in Danger, an anthology on teen dating violence, and In Love and in Danger: A Guide for Teens on Violence in Intimate Relationships; she coauthored (with Patricia Giggans) the books What Parents Need to Know About Dating Violence and Fifty Ways to a Safer World. During thirty years as an activist to stop violence against women, she has founded and directed four domestic and sexual violence organizations. She is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer and has appeared on over fifteen television shows.

How does feminism relate to motherhood, how has it changed over time, and what does the future of motherhood and feminism look like? These are just some of the questions Amber E. Kinser, PhD, tackles in this latest addition to the Seal Studies Series. Motherhood and Feminism examines the role of feminism within motherhood-a topic that has garnered a lot of attention lately as society shifts to adapt to new definitions of these roles-and offers insight into the core questions of motherhood: what it means to be a good mother, what role mothers play in the family and in society, and how motherhood has been redefined throughout time. Kinser also speculates on the future directions of feminism-focusing on the expansion of contemporary mother activism that has occurred in the last 15 years, and emphasizing the need for that expansion to continue-and examines how the changing world of motherhood fits into feminist activism.

There's no denying that men's involvement and interest in feminism is key to its continuing relevance and importance. Addressing the question of why men should care about feminism in the first place, Men and Feminism lays the foundation for a larger discussion about feminism as a human issue, not simply a women's issue. Men are crucial to the movement-as fathers, brothers, husbands, boyfriends, and friends. From "why" to "how" to "what can men do", Men and Feminism answers all the questions men have about how and why they should get behind feminism. Shira Tarrant is an expert in masculinities, feminist theory, and pop culture. She is the author of When Sex Became Gender (Routledge 2006), editor of the provocative anthology Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex, and Power (Routledge 2008), and coeditor of Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style (forthcoming). Her work has appeared in Bitch, off our backs, Women's Studies Quarterly, Genre magazine, and The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism, and on the popular blog Girl with Pen. Tarrant is a frequent speaker at college campuses and other public venues. She has been quoted widely in print, television, radio, and online media on the subject of gender politics. She received her PhD in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is an assistant professor of women's studies at California State University, Long Beach. To read more about her work, see shiratarrant.com.

The complete, authoritative, and up to date history of American feminism-intersectionality, sex-positivity Updated and expanded, the second edition of A History of U.S. Feminisms is an introductory text that will be used as supplementary material for first-year women's studies students or as a brush-up text for more advanced students. Covering the first, second, and third waves of feminism, A History of U.S. Feminisms will provide historical context of all the major events and figures from the late nineteenth century through today. The chapters cover: first-wave feminism, a period of feminist activity during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which focused primarily on gaining women's suffrage; second-wave feminism, which started in the '60s and lasted through the '80s and emphasized the connection between the personal and the political; and third-wave feminism, which started in the early '90s and is best exemplified by its focus on diversity, intersectionality, queer theory, and sex-positivity. Rory Dicker teaches classes about women and literature, feminist pedagogy, and the history of American feminisms at Vanderbilt University, where she is the director of the Margaret Cuninggim Women's Center. She is the coeditor of Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century.