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| ADVERSE EFFECTS : Women & the Pharmaceutical Industry [Kathleen McDonnell] "This valuable anthology highlights the dangers women face from a powerful global drug industry that recognises neither national boundaries nor ordinary ethics. Equally important, Adverse Effects gives us a glimpse of what a more caring, woman-oriented health system would look like, both in the Third World and in the industrialised countries. Adverse Effects is essential reading for health activists everywhere." -- Barbara Ehrenreich, author and women's health advocate. { 217pp, 140x215mm, January 1986; PB, £9.99, 0889611084:9780889611085 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| AFRAID OF THE DAY : A Daughter's Journey [Nancy Graham] Written from the vantage point of a daughter who bears witness to her mother's recurring bouts of clinical depression, this memoir makes a poignant pull at the heart and sticks to the bones. In words that have long dwelled in silence, Nancy Graham recounts her mother's roller coaster journey into the deep dark hell of the disorder, and what it was like to be forced along for the ride. The experience of depression is not an uncommon one, and the emotional and psychological havoc it wreaks upon all members of a family is frequently underestimated. Graham unravels and rewinds the tattered threads of the lives insidiously tangled when mental illness shadows a family. She writes with honesty and compassion, creating a large, clear canvas of family, society, and the medical tumbleweed that mishandled her mother's frequent forays into the unforgiving abyss of a major depressive disorder. The book is about transcendence, creativity, and the complexities of mother-daughter love when the maternal bond is so intangibly severed. It is also about sexual coming of age and discovery. Mostly, it is about salvaging love and the triumph of the spirit and the will of a girl, moving through childhood and puberty to adulthood, walking a ground that she defines with each step, and the bittersweet legacy of it all. { 264pp, 150x230mm, January 2003; PB, £11.99, 088961413X:9780889614130 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| ART ON BLACK/SHE IN TRANSISHUN [dbi Young (Trudy Young)] d'bi. Young's unusual way of writing her stage name is an indicator of her innovative approach to dub poetry. A performance art, dub poetry has been moved to the printed page since its early beginnings in Jamaica and the Diaspora (Canada, the UK, and the US). The fact that this is d'bi. Young's first book of dub poetry, belies the maturity of a voice that has made impact in other media. young was recently nominated for two Gemini Awards - Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Series and the Viewers Choice Award for Favourite Comedian -- for her role in Lord Have Mercy!, the first black TV sitcom produced in Canada. This book is a must-read for those interested in dub poetry, feminist poetry, and post-colonial poetic forms. These are all dynamic parts of the global cultural landscape, and Canada's cultural discourse. { 89pp, 155x230mm, December 2005; PB, £9.99, 088961458X:9780889614581 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| ASIAN WOMEN : Interconnections [Tineka Hellwig & Sunera Thobani (eds)] This collection places Asian woman centre stage and challenges a dichotomised view of Asia and the ‘west’ or ‘north’. It offers an understanding of Asian women in their networks of connections through the work of feminist scholars discussing Asian women in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia. The editors have introduced each section in a way that enables the understanding of the intersections and theoretical linkages between women from varied Asian backgrounds. This is an important contribution to interdisciplinary scholarship and to comparative Asian feminist thought. { 279pp, 155x230mm, March 2006; PB, £19.99, 0889614571:9780889614574 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| AVERSION & DESIRE : Negotiating Muslim Female Identity in the Diaspora [Shahnaz Khan] Shahnaz Khan presents the voices of Muslim women on how they construct and sustain their Islamic identity. Khan interviewed 14 Muslim women about their sense of power, authenticity, and place. Her critical analysis challenges the Western perception of Islam as monolithic and static. The women emigrated from Pakistan, India, Egypt, Turkey, Somalia, Iran, and Uganda. They share a common pride in their Muslim origins, even as they express concern about their position as women within Islam and how they are viewed by non-Muslim Canadians. Khan suggests that the women's narratives reveal a nostalgia and a longing for a stable and comfortable identity. This book will interest scholars in Women's Studies, Modern Islamic Studies, Religious Studies, and Cultural Studies. REVIEW: "Brings into the light the complex and contradictory ways in which Muslim women in marginalised locations negotiate, through resistance and collusion, the encounter with sexism and racism." -- Minoo Moallem, San Francisco State University. "Finally, a book about and by North America's Muslim woman. A book that examines the dualism of what it means to be a Muslim woman who comes from a different place, living in 'white Orientalist and patriarchal Canada'." -- Saraswati Sunindyo, University of Washington, Seattle. { 152pp, 165x215mm, January 2002; PB, £12.99, 0889614008:9780889614000 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| BENT ON WRITING : Contemporary Queer Tales [Elizabeth Ruth (ed)] Elizabeth Ruth has gathered the work of 55 of the talented writers who have performed at the reading series 'Clit Lit', now entering its fifth successful year. Clit Lit is the only monthly queer literary series in Canada. With conviction, Ruth says, "Good writing breeds good writing." Working from this premise, she founded and developed a community-based artistic space where established and emerging writers could meet and learn from each other. Each contributor in this collection is interested in bending or queering the canon in exciting ways, challenging some of our most basic preconceptions about writing, life, and love. At Clit Lit writers find inspiration and motivation from each other and are able to showcase their talent in various forms -- prose, poetry, spoken work, playwriting, creative non-fiction, storytelling, and drag. Bent on Writing offers readers a permanent and lasting record of that work and a how-to guide for establishing their own community-based literary events. This book is more than an anthology; it is a gathering of three-dimensional talent for the two-dimensional page. { 309pp, 175x225mm, January 2002; PB, £14.99, 0889614032:9780889614031 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| BOBBI LEE : Indian Rebel [Lee Maracle] Beginning with her childhood, Maracle traces her teenaged years and adulthood during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. REVIEW: "Bobbi Lee confronts white Canadian society on the grounds that it stole from the First Nations of this country. A tough autobiography of an Indian woman's life from the mud flats of Second Narrows Bridge, Vancouver, to the Toronto of the sixties and seventies, Lee Maracle gives us an important sense of the tough terrain of struggle toward political consciousness which all oppressed peoples undertake. Bobbi Lee is a hopeful work for recovering the possibilities of envisioning a world where we are not beaten down every day." -- Dionne Brand. { 242pp, 140x215mm, January 1990; PB, £12.99, 0889611483:9780889611481 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| BOYS DON'T KNIT [Janice Schoop] When Marvin has to fix his red sweater he learns that 'boys do knit after all'. A picture book ideal for children ages 3 to 8 years. It also includes instructions for knitting a scarf. { 24pp, 200x200mm, January 1990; PB, £4.99, 0889611076:9780889611078 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| COUNTERING THE MYTHS : Lesbians Write About the Men in Their Lives [Rosamund Elwin (ed)] When false ideas prescribe our existence, our lives are limited, our communities are diminished, and we are, sadly, set against one another. In Countering the Myths, lesbians write about fathers, brothers, lovers, friends, co-workers, and strangers. Their words are cautious, tender, urgent, and angry. They dispute entrenched myths and provoke instead difficult questions. Their stories and poems provide an opportunity to unite in an exciting and liberating lesbian sexuality and life. { 304pp, 140x215mm, January 1996; PB, £12.99, 0889612196:9780889612198 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| COW, A CAKE & A RED CANOE [Pamela Wolfe] For ages 4-6. Katie refused to go to daycare without her toy alligator. It is transformed in this warm and funny picturebook introducing a child to daycare. { 24pp, 200x200mm, January 1989; PB, £4.99, 0889611408:9780889611405 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| CURAGGIA : Writing by Women of Italian Descent [Nzula Angelina Ciatu, Gabriella Micallef & Domenica Dileo (eds)] A dynamic collection of multimedia works, 'Curaggia' provides a forum for critical discourse about location and identity within Italian cultures. 'Curaggia' examines the roles of religion, language, class, race, gender, ability, and sexuality; it documents how Italian women are transforming their communities, excavating social, economic, and psychological experiences of living in Italy and abroad; and it celebrates the rich diversity of Italian women's lives. Following a tradition of perseverance forged by mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and sisters, these reflections launch the processes of naming pain, of shedding myth, stereotype, and distortion of self and other; and they move us toward exploring dreams, toward building a stronger coalition politic. { 360pp, 140x215mm, January 1998; PB, £14.99, 0889612315:9780889612310 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| DISSONANT DISABILITIES : Women with Chronic Illness Theorize Their Lives [Diane Driedger & Michelle Owen (eds)] This much-needed collection of original articles invites the reader to examine the key issues in the lives of women with chronic illnesses. The authors explore how society reacts to women with chronic illness and how women living with chronic illness cope with the uncertainty of their bodies in a society that desires certainty. Additionally, issues surrounding women with chronic illness in the workplace and the impact of chronic illness on women's relationships are sensitively considered. { 258pp, 155x230mm, April 2008; PB, £18.99, 0889614644:9780889614642 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| ELIZABETH SMART : A Fugue Essay on Women & Creativity [Kim Echlin] Elizabeth Smart, author of By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, has long been seen as a woman determined by 'Romantic' love. In this suggestive new look at her life, Kim Echlin shows that another -- and powerful -- source of her creativity was rooted in her fearless exploration of the female body and psyche -- as daughter, lover of men and women, and mother of four children. Elizabeth Smart bucked tradition from the beginning. She left her bourgeois diplomatic circles in Ottawa to join bohemian artists in England, France, and Mexico. When she fell in love with a British poet and became pregnant by him, she had her first baby in secret on the west coast of Canada and wrote the book that describes not only a love affair but a searing cycle of betrayal that leads to a woman's new self-assertion. Through art and having a baby, Elizabeth Smart discovered both her voice and her autonomy -- outside of convention. The daring and pain and elusive moments of joy in this extraordinary life are told through Elizabeth Smart's diaries, poetry, and prose. Echlin brings new material to bear on this reflection, including a hundred interviews with family, friends and work colleagues, as well as never before seen letters in which Smart reflects on birth and female creativity. She highlights Elizabeth Smart's unwavering commitment to writing in a voice and aesthetic form that reflects authentic female experience. { 237pp, 125x170mm, January 2004; PB, £9.99, 0889614423:9780889614420 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| EXILE & THE HEART : Lesbian Fiction [Tamai Kobayshi] REVIEW: "From the Future Bakery to Old Man Dam, Tamai Kobayashi reveals the ordinary and extraordinary lives of Asian-Canadian lesbians and their families with a quiet, intense passion. Kobayashi has a sharp eye for the poetic in the everyday, and for the small resonant truths that gleam amidst the seemingly mundane. Contemplative, generous, and precise, this is a book about how history, personal and global, creates the present and how the present evolves into history." -- Larissa Lai, author of When Fox is a Thousand. { 102pp, 140x215mm, January 1998; PB, £7.99, 0889612293:9780889612297 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| FEMINISMS & WOMANISMS : A Women's Studies Reader [Althea Prince & Susan Silva-Wayne (eds)] This book brings together theory and praxis, so that feminist discourse interacts as a partner with the lived experience of women's social action. The selections combine classics in feminist thought with work from modern theorists and offer a solid foundation in international feminism. The conceptual understanding embedded in the terms 'feminism' and 'womanism' contributes to feminist discourse, a carefully differentiated focus on the ideological uses of language to define relationships that have been historically mired in domination. The terms also define the way gender often has been used to signify and support domination. Given that feminism and womanism are interpretative concepts, there is always a sense that knowledge-making is in progress; for there is nothing static or stagnant about feminism, feminist theory, and feminist action. The formative nature of the feminist movement has, of necessity, a parallel interpretative theory. This Reader embraces both the formative nature of the movement and the accompanying interpretative theories. It also pays attention to the chronological, cultural, geo-political, racial, and ethnic landscapes and sites where women live, carry out social action, and theorise issues of equality. For both the general and the academic reader, this book will be edifying while providing exposure to the feminist and womanist voices that inform the scholarship. { 549pp, 175x225mm, January 2004; PB, £27.99, 0889614113:9780889614116 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| FULL CIRCLE : A Life with Hong Kong & China [Ruth Hayhoe] This is the story of a life transformed by long exposure to the people and culture of China and East Asia. Ruth Hayhoe left Toronto at the age of twenty-one in 1967 and moved to Hong Kong, where she started her career as a teacher in an Anglo-Chinese secondary school for girls. Intending to stay six months, she spent eleven years there, teaching, studying, assisting a number of veteran China missionaries, and ultimately falling in love with Chinese people and Chinese culture. The stories of many individuals in Hong Kong, China, and Japan are interwoven into this narrative account, as Hayhoe shares what it was like to live through a series of major transitions -- from the Cultural Revolution of 1967 to Hong Kong's return to China in 1997. In 1980, Hayhoe went to teach in Shanghai's Fudan University for two years, then completed a PhD at the University of London before returning to Canada in 1984. Five years later, following the Tiananmen tragedy of 1989, she was drawn back to China as Cultural Attaché in the Canadian Embassy. Subsequently, she continued to visit China for research and development work, and in 1997--the year Hong Kong was re-unified with China--she was invited to become Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, a newly established tertiary institute. With this appointment, Hayhoe's life came full circle, as she settled into the city where she had begun her teaching career 30 years earlier. Her return to Hong Kong brought back a storm of memories, prompting her to write this book in celebration of many wonderful mentors, and of the rich rewards of risk-taking and openness to the other. { 232pp, 140x175mm, January 2004; PB, £14.99, 0889614415:9780889614413 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| FUTURE OF HUMAN REPRODUCTION [Christine Overall (ed)] Reproductive technology has become virtually synonymous with new reproductive choices for women. We are led to believe these technological practices will primarily enable women to conceive and bear the children they previously could not. The presentation of this as fact urges us to support the advancement of reproductive technology so that future techniques may be perfected. 'The Future of Human Reproduction' critically assesses the social, moral, legal, and political impact of reproductive technology on women's lives. Through a feminist analysis, writers explore how the implications of technology are much more complex and far reaching than we think. The writers uncover a number of issues that need to be addressed and challenged rather than assume reproductive technology is being pursued safely and in the best interests of all women. { 280pp, 140x215mm, January 1992; PB, £12.99, 0889611327:9780889611320 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| I KNOW WHO I AM : A Caribbean Woman's Identity in Canada [Yvonne Bobb-Smith] Dr Yvonne Bobb-Smith explores the knowledge and history of resistance of Caribbean women in Canada, using her own journey as a personal place from which to navigate the generalised experience of settlement and adjustment in the Diaspora. I Know Who I Am investigates the stories of 45 Caribbean women of different backgrounds and heritages. Bobb-Smith presents their conceptualisation of the experiences of racism and sexism in their everyday lives and their strategizing resistance. This book is about empowerment in the lives of Caribbean women. This empowerment is seen as an enabling mechanism to resist an 'immigrant woman' identity, imposed through racism and sexism during the period of adjustment in Canada. Bobb-Smith uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine subjectivity, experience, agency, and resistance in the lived experiences of Caribbean women in Canada. She demonstrates that the historical past left a legacy of domination and resistance. She further shows how Caribbean women's activism in community organising constructed an alternative women's movement in Canada. Her voice emerges as a strong contribution to the discourse of identity, and the re-imagining of "home" as an educative institution and process. { 249pp, 155x230mm, January 2003; PB, £13.99, 0889614148:9780889614147 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| IMAGINING WOMEN : Short Fiction [Rene Lallier] Marlene Nourbese Philip, Claire Harris, Mary Lou C DeBassige, Caludia Casper, J A Hamilton, Patricia Seaman and many more writers make this an exciting anthology. { 177pp, 150x230mm, January 1989; PB, £8.99, 0889611246:9780889611245 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| IN THE NAME OF LOVE : Women's Narratives of Love & Abuse [Heather Fraser] Although love is the hallmark of humanity, it is not widely discussed in social work and other related professions with respect to its potential connection to abuse. In this ground-breaking book the author argues that, while love and abuse should not co-exist, they often do. Using a feminist narrative approach, stories about love, abuse, and social work are told with the purpose of understanding domestic violence and other forms of abuse. Based on interviews with 84 women of varying ages in Canada and Australia, the author shows how the pain and shame of intimate abuse can leave its mark on the bodies, minds, and souls of victims/survivors long after abusive episodes have ended. Additionally, Fraser also discusses the importance of hope, 'enlightened witnesses', income support, and educational opportunities for women who refuse to renounce love relationships altogether, but are instead, trying to foster relationships that are respectful as well as erotic. { 270pp, 155x230mm, November 2008; PB, £17.99, 0889614628:9780889614628 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| IS ANYONE LISTENING? : Women, Work & Society [Dr Merle Jacobs (ed)] Jacobs has brought together the work of progressive feminist writers who theorise gender, race, diversity research, the social construction of women and work, ethnicity, and class. The essays in this reader are focused on issues relating to gender equality in workspaces in society. Included are contributions from well-known and established social scientists. Among them are Pat & Hugh Armstrong, Himani Bannerji, Christine Bruckert, and Tania Das Gupta. The result is a stimulating collection that focuses on health-care workers, teachers, strippers, wageless workers, and women who are 'hidden from view'. The collection explores the construction of gender, the selection of careers, and the differential in work conditions and wages. { 344pp, 155x230mm, January 2002; PB, £17.99, 0889614091:9780889614093 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| JOY, JOY, WHY DO I SING? [Darlene Madott] In this brilliant collection of short stories, Darlene Madott explores the individual quests of characters to sing themselves out of the void -- to seek a motivation beyond the confines of their personal joys and sufferings. In the title story, the uniqueness is in the exploration of the notion that in the gift of singing, we pray twice: we celebrate the song, and we celebrate the creator. Madott's stories examine the relationships between people, within the understanding that one note in isolation means nothing; it communicates nothing. It is the interval -- the relationship between two notes and how an individual moves from one to the other -- that creates meaning. Sometimes there is consonance, but more often, it is dissonance that swirls between two people. The author describes this dissonance in one marriage as "the interval of a seventh apart." All of the stories possess a certain tugging at the heart, and at the core of each story it is love alone that transposes the music. { 182pp, 135x185mm, January 2004; PB, £9.99, 0889614407:9780889614406 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| LOT TO LEARN : Girls, Women & Education in the 20th Century [Helen Jefferson Lenskyj] Using sources from women's history, women's studies, and critical social theory, Dr Lenskyj situates two stories -- her own and that of her mother -- within the broader Australian socio-cultural context of the period from 1900 to 1960. She presents the background for her mother's narrative, beginning in 1832 when her grandfather arrived in Sydney, Australia, as a convict. She then examines her own experience as a working-class child attending a private school in the 1950s. Moving to Toronto, the story continues by documenting the interventions of mothers involved in school-community activism in the 1960s and 1970s. Reflecting on her experiences since 1986 as an openly lesbian professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Dr Lenskyj includes a critical analysis of lesbian and gay activism aimed at educational change, and of developments in feminist pedagogy in the last two decades. { 181pp, 155x225mm, May 2005; PB, £12.99, 0889614482:9780889614482 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| MARGARET LAURENCE -- A GIFT OF GRACE : A Spiritual Biography [Noelle Boughton] A stunning book that captures the spirituality and talent of one of Canada's most celebrated writers, Noelle Boughton's biography of Margaret Laurence communicates a great deal about the decency and complexity of both the author and Canadian culture. Like most authors, Margaret Laurence's work drew on the community in which she lived, and the culture of the area informed the tone and content of her work. This original work traces the spiritual core and growth of one of Canada's most powerful artists. Starting from her roots in a middle-class, United Church, small-town prairie milieu, this beautifully wrought book traces Laurence's connection with her home town and its people and explores the themes of community, spirituality and social justice as they were expressed in her life and work. This is an indispensable guide to the life and development of one of Canada's most treasured writers. { 208pp, 125x180mm, October 2006; PB, £9.99, 0889614598:9780889614598 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| MOONLIGHT HIDE & SEEK CLUB : The Pollution Solution [Rosamund Elwin & Michele Paulse] For ages 7-10. Rosamund and Michele have known each other for five years. One evening while sitting around talking about what they would like to see in children's books, they discovered that they shared an interest in writing and together had unique ideas for children's stories. That's how this and Asha's Mums, their first book, were born. { 24pp, 200x200mm, January 1992; PB, £4.99, 0889611734:9780889611733 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| MOTHER OUTLAWS : Theories & Practices of Empowered Mothering [Dr Andrea O'Reilly] Feminist scholars of motherhood distinguish between mothering and motherhood, and argue that the latter is a patriarchal institution that is oppressive to women. Few scholars, however, have considered how mothering, as a female defined and centred experience, may be a site of empowerment for women. This collection is the first to do so. The book examines how mothers imagine and implement theories and practices of mothering that are empowering to women. Central to this inquiry is the recognition that mothers and children benefit when the mother lives her life, and practices mothering, from a position of agency, authority, authenticity, and autonomy. The collection has five sections: Feminist Mothering, Lesbian Mothering, African-American Mothering, Mothers and Daughters, and Mothers and Sons. { 441pp, 165x240mm, January 2004; PB, £24.99, 0889614466:9780889614468 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| MOTHERHOOD : Power & Oppression [Andrea O'Reilly, Marie Porter & Patricia Short] In feminism, the institution of mothering/motherhood has been a highly contested area in how it relates to the oppression of women. As Adrienne Rich articulated in her classic 1976 book ‘Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution’, although motherhood as an institution is a male-defined site of oppression, women's own experiences of mothering can nonetheless be a source of power. This volume examines four locations wherein motherhood is simultaneously experienced as a site of oppression and of power: embodiment, representation, practice and separation. Motherhood includes psychological, historical, sociological, literary and cultural approaches to inquiry and a wide range of disciplinary perspectives -- qualitative, quantitative, corporeal, legal, religious, fictional, mythological, dramatic and action research. This rich collection not only covers a wide range of subject matter but also illustrates ways of doing feminist research and practice. { 300pp, 155x230mm, September 2005; PB, £17.99, 0889614547:9780889614543 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| MOTION IN POETRY [Wendy Brathwaite] This book charts a journey in language that is rich in contemporary African-Canadian rhythms and poly-rhythms. At times, Brathwaite uses a specific idiom located within Hip Hop styling. In some poems, strict, standard English is put to the service of telling a story. Motion in Poetry reads like a swaying, Hip Hop ride through life, love, raw desire, political irony, fiery emotions about race, class, and gender, touching sadness, and sweet, dry humour. Brathwaite is well-established in the Hip Hop genre of poetry. { 172pp, 155x230mm, January 2002; PB, £9.99, 0889614016:9780889614017 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| MUSLIM VEIL IN NORTH AMERICA : Issues & Debates [Sajida Alvi, Homa Hoodfar & Sheila McDonough (eds)] The issue of veiling has been remarkably under-researched and over-ideologised. In recent years, the adoption of the veil has come to symbolise a brave expression of choice: women reaching out to tradition, but hoping it will not jeopardise their place in the larger North American society. It is with this in mind that the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) invited scholars in the fields of anthropology, history, sociology, and Islamic studies to carry out a systematic study of issues surrounding different practices of the hijab among Muslim communities, resulting in this book. { 306pp, 150x225mm, January 2003; PB, £19.99, 0889614083:9780889614086 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| NEW MIDWIFERY : Reflections on Renaissance & Regulation [Farah M Shroff] Offers a critical perspective on women's reproductive health and midwifery issues. This incisive collection of essays examines the impact of professionalisation, legalisation, and state involvement on women-centred care and on the perspectives of midwifery consumers. Midwives and social scientists from a variety of cultural backgrounds, political perspectives, geographical locations, and education and training backgrounds reflect, in clear and accessible language, on the legislative processes involved in the regulation of midwifery. Given that legalisation of what has, until recently, been a lay practitioners arena promises to be the wave of the future for many jurisdictions, parents-to-be, policy makers, health care workers, educators, and the general public will find 'The New Midwifery' is invaluable in learning more about this profession. { 368pp, 140x215mm, January 1997; PB, £14.99, 0889612242:9780889612242 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| NO CRYSTAL STAIR : A Novel [Mairuth Sarsfield] This is an absorbing novel that explores an increasingly difficult contemporary reality: functioning as though White while surviving as Black. Marion Willow, a proud young widow, must work at two jobs to ensure that her three girls develop lifestyles not hindered by class and colour. The bitter-sweet experience of Marion's elegant American expatriate neighbour, Torrie Delacourt, could help the girls survive Canada's subtle racism, which, though not legislated, wounds and hems them in. But the women's rivalry for the love of Edmund Thompson, a handsome railway porter, pits them against one another. With humour and sensitivity, 'No Crystal Stair' reveals both the conflict and the human heart of the proud, tightly knit Black community of the Little Burgundy district of Quebec in the mid-forties. It recaptures the days when Montreal was a cosmopolitan hub. It was a city inhabited by jazz musicians, café society, artists, gangsters -- those whose world revolved around Rockhead's Paradise -- and others who clung to the community church at the end of Prohibition, the depression and the anxious years of World War II. { 248pp, 150x225mm, January 2004; PB, £9.99, 0889614512:9780889614512 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| NO EASY ANSWERS [Deanna Lueder] Child-protection social worker Lexie Doucette tumbles into her profession by chance and has a quick and dramatic introduction to this challenging and essential line of work. Fuelled by outrage at the cyclical pattern of abuse that leaves innocent children in its wake, Lexie draws upon her seemingly bottomless supply of empathy to motivate her to get through the long days. "No Easy Answers" is a compelling collection of interrelated short stories about the social work profession, told from the perspective of a child-welfare social worker. Though fictional, the tales are based on the author's many years of experience. Raw, powerful, and candid in its depiction of an often-misunderstood profession, the collection offers the reader a startlingly real picture of child-protection investigations and case-work, as well as insight into the conflicted emotional life of a social worker. "No Easy Answers" will appeal to the general reader, and may be of particular interest to those working and/or teaching in the social work field, and related professions. { 204pp, 140x200mm, May 2008; PB, £11.99, 0889614652:9780889614659 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| OF SILK SARIS & MINI-SKIRTS : South Asian Girls Walk the Tightrope of Culture [Dr Amita Handa] Dr Handa explores issues surrounding the way identity is imagined and constructed by South Asian girls, women, and South Asian community workers in Toronto. The author also examines ways in which young South Asian women are constructed and represented through discourses of race, nation, culture, and community. Handa suggests that young South Asian women find themselves caught between these fragmented aspects of the self. Using feedback from her interviews, the author discusses South Asian women's struggle with the threat of the erosion of their "authentic" cultural practices. Handa's critical theoretical perspective illuminates how South Asian women struggle to live within the boundaries of cultural preservation at the same time that they embrace aspects of the communities in which they live. She explores whether they both desire and are excluded from Canadian cultural hegemony. She also examines the theoretical implications of exclusion and, conversely, the problematic of "cultural preservation". { 211pp, 150x225mm, January 2003; PB, £12.99, 0889614067:9780889614062 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| OUT OF BOUNDS : Women, Sport & Sexuality [Helen Lenskyj] Feminist Helen Lenskyj presents an insightful examination of the links between women's participation in sports and the control of their reproductive capacity and sexuality. She identifies the female frailty myth, the illusion of male athletic superiority, and the concept of compulsory heterosexuality as powerful determinants of'masculinity' and 'femininity' in the realm of sport. Looking at developments from the 1880s to the present, Lenskyj discusses medical views of women's health and physical potential and examines the social attitudes and practices that keep girls and women from participating in the full range of sports and physical activities. Topics include contact sports, self-defence, fitness, bodybuilding, and women-only sports. Photographs, memorabilia and eye-opening information from past and present reveal the missing links between women, sport, and sexuality. { 179pp, 140x215mm, January 2003; PB, £8.99, 088961105X:9780889611054 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| OUT ON THE FIELD : Gender, Sport & Sexualities [Helen Jefferson Lenskyj] This book provides an in-depth examination of gender, sport and sexualities, an analysis of the limitations of liberal feminist responses, and an exploration of radical feminist alternatives. Dr Lenskyj presents illuminating case studies from Canada, the United States and Australia, with exposés of coaches' and administrators' complicity in perpetuating the chilly climate for female athletes in general, and for lesbians in particular. It includes a content analysis of the mass media treatment of sportswomen, and a discussion of how lesbian characters are portrayed in mainstream and lesbian fiction. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples, Lenskyj contexualises the homophobia and sexual harassment present in the everyday experiences of significant numbers of women involved in sport and physical activity. She shows that despite three decades of feminist and lesbian activism, and despite the apparent liberalisation of attitudes since the 1960s, lesbian sexuality remains largely "in the closet" while heterosexuality continues to be exploited in the name of selling sport. { 174pp, 155x230mm, December 2003; PB, £11.99, 0889614164:9780889614161 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| PINK PALACE [Rachel Sheer] Ellie Walsh has enough on her plate as it is. The new session of the Ontario legislature is in full-swing; her boss, the opposition critic for education, has leadership aspirations; and her co-worker is trying to sabotage her career. The last thing Ellie needs is to fall for the wrong guy. And the charming -- and gorgeous -- Garrett Foster is definitely the wrong guy. When the charismatic consultant arrives at the Pink Palace to work for the enemy, Ellie finds herself thrust to the forefront of her own party's machinations. Torn between love and duty, Ellie must make her choice -- and she knows that in the unforgiving world of politics, there are no second chances. Sparks fly as Ellie and Garrett learn the most difficult lesson of all: how to compromise. A truly modern romance, 'Pink Palace' blends the recent political climate in Ontario with humour, intrigue, and an insider's unique view of life at the legislature. REVIEW: "Politics as foreplay: the animal attraction of Ellie and Garrett plays out against the backdrop of the Ontario legislature. Queen's Park is transformed into a treasure hunt, with sex and political scandal the prize. This author has an unfailing gift for a good story and dialogue, and, best of all, a flirtatious sense of humour. Tongue-in-cheek chapter titles, such as 'Engaging the Enemy,' 'The Body Politic,' and 'Official Opposition' are markers of a clever intelligence. Rachel Sheer has clearly had a good time writing Pink Palace, and her readers can't help but enjoy it if they, like she, yield to the story. She delivers a climax every bit as good as the foreplay. A thoroughly satisfying read!" -- Darlene Madott, Author of Bottled Roses and Joy, Joy, Why Do I Sing? { 193pp, 130x185mm, May 2005; PB, £9.99, 0889614474:9780889614475 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| QUEBEC WOMEN : A History [The Clio Collective; Translated by Roger Gannon & Rosalind Gill] REVIEW: “What brought us to write this synthesis of the history of the women who have lived in Quebec during the past four centuries was our unwillingness to let the history of men and a few illustrious women be passed off as the collective history of a whole population. Women had also made history. We had to find them, to find out where and why they were overshadowed”. -- The Clio Collective. { 396pp, 155x230mm, January 1990; PB, £17.99, 0889611017:9780889611016 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| QUEEN'S NEW SHOES [Adwoa A Badoe] For ages 4-8. Introduces us to Esmeralda, the formidable queen of Karakatoo, and her closet full of shoes -- not including the ones on her feet, which totals two thousand, four hundred and forty-nine pairs in all! Esmeralda must have one more pair of shoes because the number "two thousand, five hundred sounds even and nice". When Esmeralda has searched the city, finding not one pair to please her, she issues a royal decree granting a wish to the person who finds her a pair of shoes to match her rainbow royal gown. When a poor girl named Rada brings Esmeralda her only pair of shoes, sandals woven from strips of colourful rags, Esmeralda must face the girl and the promise that will change her life and the city forever. 'The Queen's New Shoes' teaches us thoughtful lessons on greed and arrogance, and offers us a wonderful tale of learning and sharing. { 24pp, 200x200mm, January 1998; PB, £4.99, 0889612323:9780889612327 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| RIVERS ... & OTHER BLACKNESS ... BETWEEN US : (Dub) Poems of Love [d'bi.young.anitafrika] "d'bi is a passionate word-warrior with originality and ingenuity to match her creative courage. In this collection, she gushes freely, blending contemporary currents with ancestral resonance to create a daring collection that demands attention. As it bends boundaries and defies definitions, d'bi's poetry courses along its own path. Surging and swirling, sometimes overflowing the banks, her lines are both delightful and disturbing. On the outside you see a book covered and bound, but on each page there’s raw power and boundless revelation." -- Blakka Ellis { 97pp, 155x230mm, December 2007; PB, £7.99, 0889614636:9780889614635 , Canadian Scholars' Press Inc (Women's Press) } |
| ROSALIE BERTELL : Scientist, Eco-Feminist, Visionary [Mary-Louise Engels] Dr Mary-Louise Engels' engaging book discusses Rosalie Bertell from a feminist and environmental activist perspective. It is a lovely portrait of one woman's commitment to sustaining a healthy world environment. Born in 1929 in Buffalo, New York, to a Canadian mother and an American father, Bertell entered the religious order of the Grey Nuns, completed a doctorate in biometrics, and became an impassioned peace activist. This remarkable, contemporary Canadian woman has been a lifelong fighter for environmental and human health, and for women to participate in decision-making about war, peace, and the environment. In the 1970s, Dr Bertell played a major role in opposing the construction of nuclear reactors, and in drawing attention to the health damages suffered by uranium miners and by the atomic veterans of U.S. nuclear bombing and testing. In Canada, her research furnished data on children's health hazards, contamination in the Great Lakes, and the impact of pollution on indigenous communities in the Canadian North. This book is a compelling account of a remarkable woman who has still not relinquished her efforts to make the victims visible. Dr Engels captures the struggles and achievements, the scientific and political in-fighting, the personal qualities that sustain Rosalie Bertell, and the impact of her controversial career on her life. REVIEW: "This is a remarkable and very timely book. Sharply focussed and readily accessible, it chronicles the extraordinary public contributions of my friend, Sister Rosalie Bertell, as well as the spirit, conviction, and knowledge in which her work is grounded. Both the author and the Press deserve our thanks and high praise for undertaking this important but daunting task." --Ursula M. Franklin, C.C. FRSC University Professor Emerita, University of Toronto "Using Dr. Bertell's testimony and reports, the Veterans Rights Coalition pursued legislation on behalf of Veterans exposed to ionizing radiation during the United State's nuclear testing period. Without her support, our successes would not be worth mentioning. Dr. Bertell's testimony before the US Congress on behalf of those of us who wore the uniform of the United States tested her resolve and her faith more than most people can comprehend. I, and many other Navy airmen and military personnel are alive today because of that resolve. I don't know what a 'saint' is, but I'll accept her, at least, as our guardian Angel." -- Michael Thomas, Director, Veterans Rights Coalition U.S.A. { 186pp, 130x185mm, May 2005; PB, £8.99, 0889614504:9780889614505 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| SANS SOUCI & OTHER STORIES [Dionne Brand] REVIEW: "Each story is perfect in its own way, from the wonderful celebration of the generic Caribbean grandmother in 'Photograph' to the terrifying magic realism of 'At the Lisbon Plate'... This is political art at its searing best." -- Rhonda Cobham, The Women's Review of Books. "Brooding, obsessive stories of contemporary Black life in Canada and the Caribbean offer an intimate view of women driven by poverty to leave their homes for a hostile new country... her lyrical gifts are unobtrusively displayed and her characters are affecting." -- Publishers Weekly. { 150pp, 140x215mm, January 1994; PB, £8.99, 0889611963:9780889611962 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| SCRATCHING THE SURFACE : Canadian Anti-Racist Feminist Thought [Enakshi Dua & Angela Robertson (eds)] This book brings together 14 anti-racist feminists who examine ways in which race and gender interact to shape the lives of women of colour in Canada. This collection of articles covers a broad range of topics such as the impact of colonialism and its associated discourses on First Nations and other groups of colonised women; racism in the Canadian labour movement; the impact of globalisation on women of colour; the ways in which the institution of the nuclear family shapes racism; sexism in communities of colour; and the ways in which the women's movement can create an anti-racist praxis. The book not only provides exciting new insights into how women of colour experience Canadian society, but also provides instructors with a textbook that integrates anti-racist and feminist approaches. { 336pp, 155x230mm, December 1999; PB, £14.99, 0889612307:9780889612303 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| SEX CHANGE, SOCIAL CHANGE : Reflections on Identity, Institutions, & Imperialism [Vivane Namaste] This book provides readers with an introduction to contemporary transsexual politics in Canadian and Québécois contexts. Through different case studies relating to the law, human rights, health care, and prostitution, Dr Namaste exposes readers to the complexity of the issues involved in thinking about transsexual politics in relation to feminism. Written in accessible language, and using a variety of forms, including interviews, essays, political speeches, the book will appeal to academics, activists in the community, and the general reader. { 136pp, 155x230mm, August 2005; PB, £12.99, 0889614520:9780889614529 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| SONS OF THE MOVEMENT : FtMs Risking Incoherence on a Post-Queer Cultural Landscape [Jean Bobby Noble] In this beautiful and original work, the author explores the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and class. Primarily a study of transgendered men, the book challenges our conceptualisation of identity politics while decrying the rigidities of sex and gender role performance and expectation. { 143pp, 155x230mm, April 2006; PB, £14.99, 088961461X:9780889614611 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| SP LIKES AD [Catherine Brett] For ages 14+. A fast moving short novel in which Brett treats the topic of homosexuality in a matter of fact way. Looking up slowly, still thinking about dinosaurs, she found herself staring into the face of Anne Delaney. She wanted to die. "Eric told me you needed help building your sculpture." There it was. Anne Delaney had spoken to her, to Stephanie. Stephanie suddenly felt that she didn't know who she was anymore. She tried to find her voice and drag it out from somewhere deep inside herself. { 118pp, 100x175mm, January 1989; PB, £4.99, 0889611424:9780889611429 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| STUDIES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY : Developments in Feminism [Caroline Andrew, Pat Armstrong, Hugh Armstrong, Wallace Clement & Leah Vosko (eds)] This collection brings together a number of significant articles from the annual journal Studies in Political Economy (SPE) that illustrate feminist political economy, reflect on the ways in which political economy (and SPE in particular) incorporates feminism, and examine the evolution of Canadian feminist analysis over the past twenty years. The book is intended to evoke several ideas: the ways in which political economy has thought about, reflected upon, and integrated feminism; the ways in which feminist ideology has been particularly insightful in providing ways for thinking through some of the central issues for a grounded Canadian political economy; the relation of theory and practice; and the relation of actors and structures. It is an invaluable teaching resource, as the articles are selected from across the twenty-year period of SPE's publishing history. { 362pp, 150x225mm, January 2003; PB, £19.99, 0889614121:9780889614123 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| THINKING THROUGH : Essays on Feminism, Marxism & Anti-Racism [Himani Bannerji] Brings together new and recent writings by writer and academic Himani Bannerji. Through anti-racist, Marxist feminism, Bannerji questions the notion of 'distinct/separate oppressions' which understands gender, race, and class as separate issues. Incisive and important, 'Thinking Through' offers a new strategy to theorising gender, race, class, and socialist revolution. { 190pp, 140x215mm, January 1995; PB, £9.99, 0889612080:9780889612082 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| TONGUES ON FIRE : Caribbean Lesbian Lives & Stories [Rosamund Elwin (ed)] In this groundbreaking anthology, Caribbean women tell their personal stories of loving women. Through interviews and stories they reveal their hidden histories, their secret longings and sexual awakenings. Rosamund Elwin has put together a fine collection that includes well-known writers such as Michelle Cliff, Shani Mootoo, and Makeda Silvera. In 'Tongues on Fire', Caribbean lesbians speak zami desire honestly and eloquently, loudly and clearly. Narrating their life stories, they claim what has never been acknowledged -- lesbian history and continuity in the Caribbean. And diasporic writers collectively honour that history and continuity in fiction sweet with intimacy, sensuality, and memory. Like the lives and stories of Caribbean lesbians, 'Tongues on Fire' is unique. { 256pp, 150x225mm, January 1997; PB, £12.99, 0889612269:9780889612266 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| TOUCH OF THE ZEBRAS [Itah Sadu] For ages 5-8. "I'm allergic to school!" Chelsea told her mother. This story for children ages 5 to 8, is a playful, funny, touching, sensitive, groundbreaking story. It has all the elements that make a child excited, interested, and eager to know 'what happens next?' The main character Chelsea is the focus of the attention of the adults in her world. They are concerned to know what ails her and why she thinks that she is 'allergic to school'. Chelsea is suffering from 'a touch of the zebras'. The reader learns that this 'touch of the zebras' is connected to Chelsea's mixed-race parentage. The reader then journeys with the child as her dilemma becomes a pleasant learning experience. { 32pp, 200x200mm, January 2003; PB, £6.99, 0889614105:9780889614109 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| TRUE LIES : The Book of Bad Advice [Mariko Tamaki] The unsuspecting public is in for a treat in this book as Mariko Tamaki shares humour, sensitivity, love, joy, pain, social commentary, and complaints (about everything and everyone and all places, spaces, events, and things which irk the author). Mariko Tamaki is a risk taker. Her in-your-face humorous commentary on social life is innovative, clever, intelligent, artistic, and sweet. The sweetness comes at the reader in a subliminal way, so that it is upon reflection that the warmth from the heart washes over you. Tamaki's love of the world and the people in it shines in her work. Even as she takes pot shots at social behaviour, there lies at the core of the work a feeling of deep, soft love. One moment, you will howl with laughter until the tears run from your eyes. By the next line of True Lies, you will find yourself reflecting on the social implications of the topics Tamaki raises. Tamaki's gift as an orator and writer lies in her capacity to disarm the reader, using humour as a great leveller. She brings the reader face to face with idiosyncrasies, prejudices, conservatism, hostilities, narrowness of vision, and all of the small (and large) negative behaviours that make life difficult. { 131pp, 125x180mm, January 2000; PB, £9.99, 0889614024:9780889614024 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| UP & DOING : Canadian Women & Peace [Janice Williamson & Deborah Gorham (eds)] Women have been instrumental for decades in shaping the peace movement in Canada. In this wide-ranging and unique collection, 37 women activists and authors document and analyse the historical and current events of the movement from the early part of this century to the present. The variety of issues raised by these historical, documentary, theoretical, cultural, and creative writings express the diverse strategies of women who work for peace and social justice. These women eloquently imagine, think, and act for a more peaceful world. At the same time they demonstrate that the peace movement has been substantially influenced by feminism. { 262pp, 140x215mm, January 1989; PB, £12.99, 0889611300:9780889611306 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| WALTZES I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN [Bernadette Gabay Dyer] This breathtaking, sweeping novel traverses the Caribbean, Europe, America, and China as it recounts the tale of John Moneague, a man who was born into poverty in the backstreets of Kingston, Jamaica. As a result of unforeseen and tragic circumstances, an old Hakka Chinese woman becomes John's guardian and life-long mentor. She brings joy into his life, shutting out the harshness of the rest of the world. Madam Hung Chin owns a small grocery store, and manages to make a living during and following the lean times of World War I. She secures the best education she can for John, sending him to a school intended for Chinese children. The intriguing narrative intensifies when John attracts the attention of a Jewish couple from England who are involved in, and dedicated to, a secret cause. As rumblings of political and domestic unrest spread across the European continent, the couple's political involvement turns out to have a momentous impact on John. { 218pp, 130x185mm, January 2004; PB, £11.99, 0889614431:9780889614437 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |
| WRITING AS WITNESS : Essay & Talk [Beth Brant] In this book, Brant hopes to convey the message that words are sacred. Belonging to a people whose foremost way of communicating is through oral tradition, she chooses her words carefully, aware of their significance, truth, and beauty. { 126pp, 140x215mm, January 1994; PB, £8.99, 0889612005:9780889612006 , Canadian Scholars' Press (Women's Press) } |