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In 2000, the National Human Genome Research Institute announced the completion of a "draft" of the human genome, the sequence information of nearly all 3 billion base pairs of DNA. In the wake of this major scientific accomplishment, the focus on the genetic basis of disease has sparked many controversies as questions are raised about radical preventative therapies, the role of race in research, and the environmental origins of illness. In The Material Gene, Kelly Happe explores the cultural and social dimensions of our understandings of genomics, using this emerging field to examine the physical manifestation of social relations. Situating contemporary genomics medicine and public health wi...
This series of absorbing case studies focuses on the portrayal of Pakistani women in the global media. Analyzing Hollywood films, British documentaries, newspapers and mainstream U.S. magazines, the book traces sensational female figures of Pakistan--all of whom have been subject to patriarchal violence--highlighting the imagery of exploitation and eroticism. The author addresses questions of spectatorship and fetishism in the age of globalization and the racial and imperial politics of liberal feminism.
This is a groundbreaking study of our culture's obsession with weddings. By examining popular films, commercials, magazines, advertising, television sitcoms and even children's toys, this book shows the pervasive influence of weddings in our culture and the important role they play in maintaining the romance of heterosexuality, the myth of white supremacy and the insatiable appetite of consumer capitalism. It examines how the economics and marketing of weddings have replaced the religious and moral view of marriage. This second edition includes many new and updated features including: full coverage of the wedding industrial complex; gay marriage and its relationship to white weddings and heterosexuality and demographics shifts as to who is marrying whom and why, nationally and internationally.
Shame, a powerful emotion, leads individuals to feel vulnerable, victimized, rejected. In Shameless, noted scholar and writer Arlene Stein explores American culture's attitudes toward shame and sexuality. Some say that we live in a world without shame. But American culture is a curious mix of the shameless and the shamers, a seemingly endless parade of Pamela Andersons and Jerry Falwells strutting their stuff and wagging their fingers. With thoughtful analysis and wit, Shameless analyzes these clashing visions of sexual morality. While conservatives have brought back sexual shame—by pushing for abstinence-only sex education, limitations on abortion, and prohibitions of gay/lesbian civil rights—progressives hold out for sexual liberalization and a society beyond “the closet.” As these two Americas compete with one another, the future of family life, the right to privacy, and the very meaning of morality hang in the balance.
Powerfully persuasive and thought-provoking, Ending the Pursuit asks us to reimagine sexuality, romance and gender without the borders imposed by society. How did asexual identity form? What is aromanticism? How does agender identity function? Researcher and writer Michael Paramo explores these misunderstood experiences, from the complex challenge of coming out to navigating the western lens of attraction. Expertly mapping their history, Paramo traces the emergence of vital online communities to the origins of the Victorian binaries that still restrict us today. With a groundbreaking blend of memoir and poetry, online articles and discussions, Ending the Pursuit is a much-needed addition to the cultural conversation. It encourages us to end the search for ‘normalcy’ and gives voice to an often-misunderstood community. 'Important . . . Paramo refuses to take for granted the normalized ideas we are fed around how relationships should work and what they should look like' Dr. Ela Przybyło, Illinois State University
The Shamrogues series of children's books (four titles) was first published in the early nineties and was a sensation. Orpen Press are pleased to announce the publication of new, updated editions of the first two books in this much-loved series, The Shamrogues – First Challenge and The Shamrogues – Second Challenge. The Shamrogues are five magical creatures who were entrusted with the power of the high druids of Ireland when magic became forbidden in Ireland. Disguised as stones, they are awakened from their sleep by a little girl called Niamh. Together with Niamh and her brother Conor and sister Sinead, and with many other creatures they meet along the way, the Shamrogues set about on a quest to save the local environment from its enemies. Having sold over 40,000 copies in its first edition, this series will delight a new generation of children.
In March 2017, researchers, advocates and NGOs from twelve countries came together in Rotorua, New Zealand, for the first conference of the International Coalition for the children of incarcerated parents. The Coalition had been formed the previous year to recognise that similar issues faced the children of prisoners all over the world. From the first arrest until release from prison, the system is stacked against the child. Justice systems are all about punishing individuals, and are, as one conference speaker noted, ‘child blind’. The papers in this collection cover many of the themes in the wider literature on the children of prisoners. Advocacy themes include moving towards child-fri...
Since sociologists returned to the study of culture in the past several decades, a pursuit all but anathema for a generation, cultural sociology has emerged as a vibrant field. Edited by three leading cultural sociologists, The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology presents the full theoretical and methodological vitality of this critically significant new area.The Handbook gathers together works by authors confronting the crucial choices all cultural sociologists face today: about analytic priorities, methods, topics, epistemologies, ideologies, and even modes of writing. It is a vital collection of preeminent thinkers studying the ways in which culture, society, politics, and economy inter...
This book contests the idea that lesbian and gay categories are disappearing, and that sexuality is becoming fluid, by showing how young people use them in a world in which heterosexuality is privileged. Exploring identity making, the book shows how old modernist stories of sexual being entwine with narratives of normality.
This innovative and thought-provoking Research Handbook explores not only current debates in the area of gender, sexuality and the law but also points the way for future socio-legal research and scholarship. It presents wide-ranging insights and debates from across the globe, including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia, with contributions from leading scholars and activists alongside exciting emergent voices.