This book, the first full-length study of its kind, dares to probe the biggest taboo in contemporary Arab culture with scholarly intent and integrity - female homosexuality.

Habib argues that female homosexuality has a long history in Arabic literature and scholarship, beginning in the ninth century, and she traces the destruction of Medieval discourses on female homosexuality and the replacement of these with a new religious orthodoxy that is no longer permissive of a variety of sexual behaviours.

Habib also engages with recent "gay" historiography in the West and...

This book employs gender as a category of analysis to capture the various ways men and women relate in society and the structures that define these relationships and place boundaries on them. It presents alternative conceptual and theoretical approaches that tease out the nuances of gender as mediated by culture, race, and identity in a globalizing world.

This book offers a critical feminist perspective on the widely debated topic of transitional justice and forgiveness. Louise Du Toit examines the phenomenon of rape with a feminist philosophical discourse concerning women's or 'feminine' subjectivity and selfhood. She demonstrates how the hierarchical dichotomy of male active versus female passive sexuality - which obscures the true nature of rape - is embedded in the dominant western symbolic frame. Through a Hegelian and phenomenological reading of first-person accounts by rape victims, she excavates an understanding of rape that also...

Drawing on qualitative studies of teamsport athletes and fraternity members, this book describes the rapidly changing world of masculinities among men in both the United States and Great Britain. As cultural homophobia decreases, university-aged men are influenced to construct a softer version of masculinity - one that is not predicated in homophobia. Inclusive Masculinity shows that today's youth express decreased sexism, racism and masculine bullying. As Eric Anderson demonstrates, men who value inclusive masculinities are also shown to be more likely to bond in emotional...

In recent years transgender has emerged as a subject of increasing social and cultural interest. This volume offers vivid accounts of the diversity of living transgender in today's world. The first section, "Emerging Identities," maps the ways in which social, cultural, legal and medical developments shape new identities on both an individual and collective level. Rather than simply reflecting social change, these shifts work to actively construct contemporary identities. The second section, "Trans Governance," examines how law and social policy have responded to contemporary gender...

This book describes the changing landscape of women's politics for equality and liberation during the rise of neoliberalism in India. Between 1991 and 2006, the doctrine of liberalization guided Indian politics and economic policy. These neoliberal measures vastly reduced poverty alleviation schemes, price supports for poor farmers, and opened India's economy to the unpredictability of global financial fluctuations. During this same period, the All India Democratic Women's Association, which directly opposed the ascendance of neoliberal economics and policies, as well as the simultaneous...