The Mankini Revolution - Stamp of Approval

Books

	Lucky by Alice Sebold (**MR Favorite)
	Lucky is a memoir by the author of The Lovely Bones. Sebold tells the very personal story of how her live was transformed when she was brutally raped by a stranger as a college freshman. Sebold said she wrote the book to bring more awareness to rape and to help other victims by making rape less of a taboo subject. Written with candor, wit, and wisdom, this is an excellant book.

Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway--Cherie Currie with Tony O"Neill (**MR Favorite)

Neon Angel is the book that inspired the movie "The Runaways." This is the story of Cherie Currie, lead singer of the groundbreaking 1970s all-girl rock band, the Runaways. At age of fifteen, Cherie Currie was approached and asked to audition for the LA rock band, because she had "the right look" Little did Cherie Currie know, her life would never be the same. In a short time, The Runaways (the band where Joan Jett and Lita Ford got their start) went from playing at local clubs and parties to selling out major stadiums, headlining shows with opening acts like the Ramones, Van Halen, and Cheap Trick, and touring around the world. Currie exposes the dark side of life as a rock star and shares her most personal difficulties-- including drug addiction, sexual abuse, troubled relationships, and the demise of the band and career in the music industry.

This book is well-written, interesting, and hard to put down. Currie is an incredible woman with an amazing story.

One of the Guys: Women as Aggressors and Torturers

Edited by Tara McKelvey. This is a collection of essays and articles about the participation of American women in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Previously, critics of women in the military have speculated that women lack the aggressive and violent tendencies required to be effective soldiers. However, until recently, women's military participation was too limited to know. The evidence available today suggests that the critics were wrong. Women are perfectly capable of being every bit as aggressive as their male counterparts. For those that believe that women are innately superior to men when it comes to morality, you will be surprised to learn that aggressive and violent behavior appears to have more to do with individual characteristics and circumstances, than gender. Another common theme in this book is the extent that women used and were ordered to use their gender and sexuality as tools to abuse and humiliate Iraqi men through "emasculation." Domination by a woman, sexual harassment by a woman, or simply being treated "like a woman" are considered by Iraqi prisoners to be the worst and most humiliating forms of torture. This has lead to the prevalence in their use as interrogation tools.

Woman: An Intimate Geography

Natalie Angier's "Woman: An Intimate Geogrpahy" is an award winning non-fiction book filled with facts and insights that challenge your knowledge of female biology. Angier uses wit, humor, and creative writing to make a compelling argument that women's bodies are more complex, versatile, and powerful than men's. She debunks gender stereotypes and challanges questionable science. In this book, you will learn little known facts such as why boys are 6% more related to their mother than their sisters and that the clitoris has twice as many nerve endings as the penis.

Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women's Love and Desire

By Lisa Diamond. Diamond was one of the first indiviiduals to conduct a study of the changes in the sexual behavior of lesbian and bi sexual women over an extended period of time. Diamond conducted a 10 year study of women who identified themselves as lesbians, bi-sexual, or non-heterosexuals who denied they fit in either category. Diamond writes about about the women's changes in self-indentificaiton, attraction, and sexual behaviors over the ten year period. The study results were suprising and a challange to the common understanding of what it means to be lesbian or bi-sexual.

	The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Grow, or Manage a Business
	Martha Stewart shares her tips for business success, using examples from her own experiences. This is an inspiring and informative book for anyone who is interested in starting or running a business.

	The Gift Of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence (**MR Favorite)
	By Gavin De Becker. Violence is more predictable then you might think. The book teaches readers how to follow your intuition and see the read flags that occcur before a situation or relationship become violent. Learn how to use your intuition in order to avoid abusive, violent people and situations. Great book, well written, incredibly worthwhile.

	Slut: Growing Up Female With A Bad Reputation
	By Leora Tanenbaum. Real stories about girls who were labeled "slut" in high school or junior high. The reason they were called sluts may suprise you. The effect it had on their lives will sadden you. This book contains personal stories, information and advice abour the devestation caused by sexual stereotyping.

	Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
	Why educating girls is the best and most cost effective way to effectuate positive world change.

	Closing the Leadership Gap
	by Marie Wilson, the founder of The White House Project, writes about how we can and must increase women's level of participation in the leadership of the U.S. and the world.

	The Beauty Myth How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women (1991) (**MR Favorite)
	by Naomi Wolf. This book examines how pressures on women to be beautiful impact multiple aspects of our lives including employment, sexuality, culture, relegion, eating disorders, and cosmetic surgery.

	Secrets of Powerful Women: Leading Change for a New Generation Voice
	by Andrea Wong and Rosario Dawson. Top women in American politics share their keys to power--and how to use them.

	When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present
	by Gail Collins. Shows us how far women have come, and reminds us that we still have a long way to go to reach full gender equality.

	The Subjection of Women (**MR Favorite)
	by John Stuart Mill. A brilliant writing of a man who was way ahead of his time. Mill believed that the inequality between the sexes originated primarily as a result of political and psychological sources, rather then biological causes. This book was written in the 1860’s, yet is incredibly relevant in explaining both the origin of sexism and sexism today.

“Ishmael,” and ”My Ishmael” (**MR Favorite)

by Daniel Quinn. Part of a series of fiction books about a gorilla named Ishmael who teaches those with “an earnest desire to save the world.” The idea is that it takes someone from outside our culture to view it clearly, without bias. What I liked about these books is that they pose questions that introduce the reader to an entirely new way of viewing the human race and world. The author’s focus is on the effect of humans on the environment, but its general principals hold true to all aspects of our culture.