Gender in a Transitional Era: Changes and Challenges

Gender in a Transitional Era addresses a range of issues relevant in current gender and sexuality studies scholarship which span many disciplines. The contributors prioritize the critical thinking that continues to support the notion that we, as a society, still have a ways to go toward full gender equality in all spheres of life. This collection positions marginal voices at the center of complex gender issues in today’s society. Broad thematic topic areas include parental identities, advice, and self-help; gender performances and role expectations in media; interacting within organizational and social spaces; and tensions and negotiations on politics, health, and feminisms. Though there is still much work to be done concerning an array of gender equality issues, scholars in this collection interrogate a transitional era of gender in which changes are evident, yet challenges persist.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Gender in a Transitional Era, Amanda R. Martinez and Lucy J. Miller Section I: Parental Identities, Advice, and Self-Help Chapter 1: Are You Managing it All? Just Read This:Working Mothers Search for Work-Life Balance through Therapeutic Discourse and Self-Help Texts, Katherine J. Denker Chapter 2: Valuing Work, Valuing Family:A Comparison of “Balance” Discourse Targeting Mothers and Fathers, Elizabeth Fish Hatfield Chapter 3: Mommy Bloggers: Who They Are, What They Write About, and How They Are Shaping Motherhood in the Twenty-First Century, Brittney D. Lee and Lynne M. Webb Section II: Gender Performances and Role Expectations in Media Chapter 4: Masculinity and the American Dream in American Dreams, Art Herbig Chapter 5: Isn’t that Bromantic? Rearticulating Male Emotionality and Homosocial Intimacy in Hollywood’s BromCom, Ryan Castillo and Ashley N. Mack Chapter 6: Cattiness as Credibility in Neoliberalism, Krista McQueeney and Kim Hong Nguyen Section III: (Inter)Acting Within Organizational and Social Spaces Chapter 7: Sacralizing the Politics of Visibility: Coming Out, Spirituality, and Gay Clergy, Leland G. Spencer Chapter 8: Disciplining the Transgender Body: Transgender Microaggressions in a Transitional Era, Lucy J. Miller Chapter 9: Emerging Adults’ Casual Sexual Involvements and the Ideal Worker Norm, Kendra Knight and Benjamin Wiedmaier Chapter 10: Computer-Mediated Leadership and Disciplinary Action: Using New Technology to Dismantle the Social Stereotypes and Gender Performances that Invade Face-to-Face Communication, Ashley K. Barrett and David W. Schlueter Section IV: Tensions and Negotiations on Politics, Health, & Feminism(s) Chapter 11: “War on Women”: Democrats’ Interpretations of Messages Regarding Women’s Health at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Jillian A. Tullis and Margaret M. Quinlan Chapter 12: Savvy and Susceptible: Diverse American Women Discuss Beauty, Body Image, and Identity in Media, Amanda R. Martinez Chapter 13: Reclaiming Connections: Constructing a Web-of-Feminisms, Debbie S. Dougherty and Katherine J. Denker

About the Author :
Amanda R. Martinez is assistant professor in communication studies, sociology, and gender and sexuality studies at Davidson College. Lucy J. Miller is adjunct professor in the Department of Arts and Humanities at the University of Houston-Downtown.

Review :
Each chapter is written with original research, which makes this book an important addition to scholarship in many areas of study. This text would make a great supplement for an upper division undergraduate course or a graduate-level course. . . .This book is well organized and captures the essence of gender in a transitional era. . . .[The text] offers a unique collection of research on important gender issues that are not found in gender textbooks. This book focuses on very specific instances of gender in a transitional era, which is a strength of the book because it offers various perspectives of specific gender issues. I envision this book becoming an ongoing collection of editions adding more valuable research to gender education. This collection makes a compelling argument that our current transitional era calls for continued exploration of gender from a variety of perspectives, methodological approaches, and identities. The text offers a rich set of examples and intersectional approaches that expand theoretical frameworks and offer possibilities for interrogating restrictive gender binaries. Gender in a Transitional Era is a compendium of essays addressing some of the important topics facing women and men that lend themselves to illuminating analysis from a feminist perspective on gender, race, and class. It updates some older debates, expands them to reflect the current realities of the multiplicities of identity, nationality, and culture, and leaves readers with a forward-looking perspective on social action in a time of ever-greater technological mediation. This collection introduces students to subjects of great political, economic, and societal concern and provides a platform from which deeper explorations can take place. I was especially pleased with the sections on the portrayal of women in mediated messages.