Women's History Month: Recommended Reading

This work documents the transformation of America's national pastime from a gender-neutral sport into a highly-gendered 'man's game.'

With 1,098 wins and eight national championships, Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt has left a remarkable legacy of perseverance, leadership, and passion for the game--but her victories on the court aren't the only legacy she has left in her wake. Since the beginning of her career as Lady Vol head coach at twenty-two years old, Pat Head Summitt effectively established the University of Tennessee Lady Vols as the top women's athletics program in the nation. The winningest coach in the history of NCAA basketball, Summitt overcame one obstacle after another on the road to every victory, but it is the lives she has impacted along the way that tell the story of her true legacy. Forever a role model for young women, expecting nothing but the best from her players and from those around her, her legacy has never faltered--not even during her final season as head coach, when she faced her fiercest adversary yet: the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. In The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt, Maria M. Cornelius tells the story of her final coaching season through the eyes of those who know her best, from players to support staff to Summitt's closest friends and advisors. Beginning with the diagnosis that shook the Tennessee community in the summer of 2011 and continuing through to the final game of the 2011-12 season, The Final Season presents readers with a behind-the-scenes look at the conclusion of Summitt's coaching career, detailing from the perspective of a sports writer how her diagnosis impacted her players and her staff as well as her fans. With forewords by former Lady Vol Candace Parker and Swish Appeal editor Mike Robinson, The Final Season reveals how Summitt's remarkable story of perseverance not only united a team of young women but also brought an entire sports following together, revealing an incredible support system that spanned far beyond Summitt's Tennessee community. The coach's determined spirit, selfless love, and sense of humor shine through the pages of Cornelius's book, painting for readers the picture of a beloved leader and detailing the personal moments of defeat and triumph that make Summitt a true champion.  

Although the impact of the bicycle craze of the late nineteenth century on women's lives has been well documented, rarely have writers considered the role of women's rhetorical agency in the transformation of bicycle culture and the bicycle itself. In Claiming the Bicycle, Sarah Hallenbeck argues that through their collective rhetorical activities, women who were widely dispersed in space, genre, and intention negotiated what were considered socially acceptable uses of the bicycle, destabilizing cultural assumptions about femininity and gender differences.   Hallenbeck describes the masculine culture of the "Ordinary" bicycle of the 1880s and the ways women helped bring about changes in this culture; asserts that women contributed to bicycle design, helping to produce the more gender-neutral "Safety" bicycle in response to discourse about their needs; and analyzes women writers' uses of the new venue of popular magazines to shape a "bicycle girl" ethos that prompted new identities for women. The author considers not only how technical documents written by women bicyclists encouraged new riders to understand their activity as transforming gender definitions but also how women used bicycling as a rhetorical resource to influence medical discourse about their bodies.   Making a significant contribution to studies of feminist rhetorical historiography, rhetorical agency, and technical communication, Claiming the Bicycle asserts the utility of a distributed model of rhetorical agency and accounts for the efforts of widely dispersed actors to harness technology in promoting social change. 

Media and political figures often assert that progress towards achieving gender parity has advanced. However, circumstances around recent major sports events such as the Women's Football World Cup and Olympic Games suggest otherwise. From controversy around facilities to miniscule commercial sponsorship, from body confidence to physical literacy, from grassroots to elite performance these events reveal ideologies and barriers that mitigate against parity for women's sport remaining entrenched.  An informed critical examination of interconnected issues around women and sport in the twenty-first century is absent from current scholarship. This book will explore some of the intersecting issues through the lens of 7 faces: governance, economics, nationhood, competition, bodies, sport for development and media. The collection seeks to amplify the ways in which inequalities are sustained by struggles between dominant social, political and economic power networks. We argue that only by making visible this complex matrix, does it become possible to create agendas for more rapid change to rebalance existing gender inequalities.  The book seeks to disentangle some of the issues, and to disrupt conventional ways of thinking about gender inequalities in sport. Our thesis is that change is slow, but investment in different skills and knowledge could direct sustainable and strategically relevant change for women's sport.

Sisterhood in Sports: How Female Athletes Collaborate and Compete tells the stories of all kinds of female athletes in a variety of sports. Their natural tendency to use talking as a primary form of communication is essential to their experiences and successes in sports. Women and girls tend to have BFFs, collaborate during periods of stress, express empathy for one another, worry about themselves and others, and desire to have fun in sports, which makes their experiences of sports and competition different from those of their male counterparts. Female strengths are grounded in both mind and body, and they take these strengths onto the court, field, and track."--

"Women of Color in STEM: Navigating the Workforce is an opportunity for making public the life stories of women of color who have persevered in STEM workplace settings. The authors used various critical theories to situate and make visible the lives of women of color in such disciplines and workplace contexts like mathematics, science, engineering, NASA, academia, government agencies, and others. They skillfully centered women and their experiences at the intersection of their identity dimensions of race, class, gender, and their respective discipline. While the disciplines and career contexts vary, the oppression, alienation, and social inequities were common realities for all. Despite the challenges, the women were resilient and persevered with tenacity, a strong sense of self as a person of color, and reliance on family, community, mentors, and spirituality. While we celebrated the successes, it is critical that organizational leaders, whether in education or other workplace settings, draw from narratives and counter-narratives of these women to improve the organizational climate where individuals can thrive, despite their racial, class and gender identity. This book will assist educational communities, professional communities, and families to understand their roles and responsibilities in increasing the number of women of color in STEM"--Provided by publisher.

A comprehensive examination of American women scientists across the sciences throughout the 20th century, providing a rich historical context for understanding their achievements and the way they changed the practice of science. 500 alphabetically organized entries on American women scientists in the 20th century, including genetics pioneers Barbara McClintock and Rosalind Franklin, Scotchgard inventor Patsy Sherman, and developer of the word processor Evelyn Berezin. 50 brief essays on women in specific scientific disciplines, exploring how each specific field dealt with gender issues 10 essays on sociocultural issues, including gender in popular science, girls in scientific education, balancing career and family) Chronologies of important historical developments, professional awards, and scientific "firsts" Extensive bibliography of reference and other works cited in the entries as well as up-to-date bibliography of scholarly books, articles, and websites related to specific issues in women's science education and employment Indexes organized by subject, key word, and scientific discipline

Choice Outstanding Academic Title "In Rachel Carson and Her Sisters, Musil fills the gap by placing Carson's achievements in a wider context, weaving connections from the past through the present. Readers will find new insight into Carson and contemporary figures she influenced...who have historically received less attention. Musil's respect and enthusiasm for these women is evident throughout the book, making it a deeply engaging and enjoyable read. A valuable addition to scholarship on Rachel Carson, female environmentalists, and the American environmental movement in general. Highly recommended. All academic and general readers." --Choice   "This is a long overdue book, giving great credit to the long line of women who have done so much to shape our culture's view of the world around us and of our prospects in it. We desperately need that culture to heed their words!" --Bill McKibben, author Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist   "A vibrant, engaging account of the women who preceded and followed Rachel Carson's efforts to promote environmental and human health. In exquisite detail, Musil narrates the brilliant careers and efforts of pioneering women from the 1850s onward to preserve nature and maintain a healthy environment. Anyone interested in women naturalists, activists, and feminist environmental history will welcome this compelling, beautifully-written book." --Carolyn Merchant, author of The Death of Nature and professor of environmental history, philosophy, and ethics, University of California, Berkeley.   "Bob Musil brilliantly documents the rich trajectory of women's intellectual and political influence, not just on environmentalism but on public policy and activism. Musil offers fascinating details of Rachel Carson's struggles to be taken seriously as a scientist and unearths the stories of the women--unsung heroes all--who influenced her. A must read for anyone interested in American history, science and environmental politics." --Heather White, Executive Director, the Environmental Working Group   "Musil uses the life and writings of Rachel Carson as an exemplar of women's participation in the American environmental movement. He places Carson's achievements in contexts by illuminating...the lives of trailblazing female scientists who inspired her and for whom she, in turn, paved the way. Extremely well-researched." --Foreword Reviews  

Communicating as Women in STEM discusses various communication styles, also demonstrating how principles can be applied during interpersonal interactions in day-to-day environments. It provides women and other underrepresented groups, faculty and administrators with the tools they need to break barriers raised by different communication styles within the STEM fields. Sections cover tactics on how to become more aware of communication patterns and how to cope with, and improve, communication. This practical resource for women in the STEM fields is also ideal for mentors, educators, advisers and organizations interested in encouraging women to choose and remain in these fields. Enables women, minorities, faculty and administrators to develop broader communication skills Teaches constructive communication strategies for interaction with mentees, mentors, faculty, managers, colleagues and other professionals Contains observation exercises that include questions and sample scenarios to illustrate communication strategies

Classic African American Women's Narratives offers teachers, students, and general readers a one-volume collection of the most memorable and important prose written by African American women before 1865. The book reproduces the canon of African American women's fiction and autobiography during the slavery era in U.S. history.

A sharp, funny, delightfully unhinged collection of stories set in the dark world of domesticity, American Housewife features murderous ladies who lunch, celebrity treasure hunters, and the best bra fitter south of the Mason Dixon line. Meet the women of American Housewife: they wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. They pump the salad spinner like it's a CPR dummy. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies out of the oven. These twelve irresistible stories take us from a haunted prewar Manhattan apartment building to the set of a rigged reality television show, from the unique initiation ritual of a book club to the getaway car of a pageant princess on the lam, from the gallery opening of a tinfoil artist to the fitting room of a legendary lingerie shop. Vicious, fresh, and nutty as a poisoned Goo Goo Cluster, American Housewife is an uproarious, pointed commentary on womanhood.

A BreakBeat Poets anthology, Black Girl Magic celebrates and canonizes the words of Black women across the diaspora.

The inventor of the speculum, J. Marion Sims, is celebrated as the "father of modern gynecology," and a memorial at his birthplace honors "his service to suffering women, empress and slave alike." These tributes whitewash the fact that Sims achieved his surgical breakthroughs by experimenting on eleven enslaved African American women. Lent to Sims by their owners, these women were forced to undergo operations without their consent. Today, the names of all but three of these women are lost. In Mend: Poems, Kwoya Fagin Maples gives voice to the enslaved women named in Sims's autobiography: Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy. In poems exploring imagined memories and experiences relayed from hospital beds, the speakers challenge Sims's lies, mourn their trampled dignity, name their suffering in spirit, and speak of their bodies as "bruised fruit." At the same time, they are more than his victims, and the poems celebrate their humanity, their feelings, their memories, and their selves. A finalist for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, this debut collection illuminates a complex and disturbing chapter of the African American experience.

The 20th century was a time of great change, particularly in the arts, but seldom explored were the female poets of that time. Robert Hass and Paul Ebenkamp have put together a comprehensive anthology of poetry featuring the poems of Gertrude Stein, Lola Ridge, Amy Lowell, Elsa Von Freytag-Loringhoven, Adelaide Crapsey, Angelina Weld Grimke, Anne Spencer, Mina Loy, Hazel Hall, Hilda Doolittle, Marianne Moore, Djuna Barnes, and Hildegarde Flanner. With an introduction from Hass and Ebenkamp, as well as detailed annotation through out to guide the reader, this wonderful collection of poems will bring together the great female writers of the modernist period as well as deconstruct the language and writing that surfaced during that period.

In this new collection of poems, Weary Kingdom, DéLana R. A. Dameron maps a journey across emotional, spiritual, and geographic lines, from the familiarity of the honeysuckle South to a new world, or a new kingdom--Harlem. Her poems traverse the streets of this Black mecca with a careful eye cast toward the intimacies of the exterior. Still, as the poems move throughout the built environment, they navigate matters of death, love, love loss, and family against the backdrop of a city that has yet to become home. Indeed what looms over this weary kingdom is a longing for the certainties of a lover's touch, the summer's sun, and the comforts of a promised land up North. And as the poet longs, so do readers. Ultimately they grow aware of Utopia's fragility.