Powers of Desire - New Feminist Library Author:Christine Stansell Women's Studies — This provocative anthology brings together a diverse group of well-known feminist and gay writers, historians, and activists. They are concerned not only with current sexual issues-- abortion, pornography, reproductive and gay rights-- but they also raise a host of new issues and questions: How, and in what ways, is sexuality po... more »litical? Is the struggle for sexual freedom a complement to other struggles for liberation, or will it detract from them? Has the sexual revolution diminished or enriched the lives of women? Do women's and men's erotic natures differ fundamentally? How do race, class and ethnicity shape sexuality? And, finally, what is the best way to organize politically around sexual issues? Through history, sociology, journalism, fiction, and poetry, the collection thus addresses itself to our sexual futures: how can we build an erotic world that feminists will desire?
The thirty-three contributions include history and sociology by Jessica Benjamin, Allan Berube, Anne Bobroff, John D'Emilio, Alic Echols, Barbara Epstein, Atina Grossmann, Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Ann Kaplan, Barbara Omolade, Kathy Peiss, Adrienne Rich, Ellen Ross and Rayna Rapp, Rennie Simson, Ann Snitow, Ellen Kay Triberger, Carole Vance, and Judith Walkowitz; journalism by Deirdre English, Felicita Garcia, Amber Hollibaugh and Cherrie Moraga, Joan Nestle, and Ellen Willis; and fiction and poetry by Jayne Cortez, Myra Goldberg, Nancy Harrison, Irena Klepfisz, Sharon Olds, Carole Rosenthal, Alix Kates Shulman, and Sharon Thompson.
Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell, and Sharon Thompson, wirters and scholars, have been involved for over a decade in a variety of feminist activities, including reproductive rights, lesbian and gay rights, and support for third world women.« less