Evelyn Blackwood and Saskia Wieringa have compiled thirteen essays from a group of historians, sociologists, and anthropologists who discuss same-sex desire among women outside the West, exploring female eroticism in such societies and cultures as India, Polynesia, Latin America, Native North America, and southern Africa.Female Desires offers compelling evidence against the commonly accepted notion that non-Western women are generally passive victims of male domination and compulsory heterosexuality. It also dispells the idea that same-sex female desire is rooted in Western...

Nine essays examine the women's movement, feminist politicians, and feminist civil servants as the three primary sets of actors in women's collective political struggles to make their voices heard and place their issues on the public agenda. They discuss the global institutional framework then cite

This book examines life trajectories among three categories of women living beyond the bounds of heteronormativity in Jakarta and Delhi: women who have lost their husbands, either through divorce or death; sex workers; and young, urban lesbians. By charting the lives of women who live beyond the boundaries of the heteronormative, commonalities are revealed, boundaries are delineated, and the issue of the struggle for sexual rights for marginalized groups, and their open rebellion, brought to the fore.