Susan M. Shaw

My school uses this anthology to teach its 200-level Intro to Women's and Gender Studies course. Students seem to enjoy it more than they expect to; the readings are mostly very short (averaging 3-8 pages each) and cover a spectrum of genres, from poetry to personal essays to academic writing.

My one complaint about this 6th edition is that it removes a few classic readings, contained in the 4th and 5th, which functioned to put the 'updated' readings of the 6th into context. For example, the 6th edition contains Vivian M. May's "Intersectionality," a reading that engages Marilyn Frye's 1983 piece "Oppression"... but in this edition "Oppression" itself is missing. May's piece mentions it but, without the original, students miss out on a reading that may be a little dated (?) but which students who used the 4th and 5th editions always seemed to enjoy. Likewise, the chapter on Reproductive Health/Justice issues no longer contains an excerpt from Margaret Sanger, although she's still mentioned in the chapter introduction. I understand the importance of keeping the bulk of the anthology up-to-date for relevance's sake, but not if that's done by switching out accessible classic readings for ostensibly more up-to-date ones which would be more easily incorporated into a class by online materials than written ones. So take the Aimee Mullins reading out, suggest that students watch her TED talk on disability instead, and put Frye back in; take the reading on Beyonce out, have students watch her 'feminist' performance in class instead, and put the Sanger back in... It's a solid textbook, but changes like those would make my 4.5 stars a 5, by leaving the best of the 'old' readings while incorporating new materials and more contemporary texts in a more accessible (online, visual) format.… (meer)