Changing perceptions — Writings on gender and development

XIV

Forum

show the gendered nature of discursivepower games, discussingthe contributions of Lute Irigaray,Mary Daly and Michele le Doeuff to the understanding of sexual differenceand politics. Silent Sisters: An Ethnographyof Homeless Women by Betty G Russell; Taylor & p'rancis,1991. UKfl8 pb, 140 pp. This book describeswhat homelessnessis like for women and the extent to wh,ichfemale homelessnessis gender-based. It tells what their lives are like and what their point of view is, both towards themselvesand mainstream society. Because female homelessnessis a serious social problem and is still poorly understood,the author describes the world of these women not only as an exercise in cultural analysis, but also with the intentionof providing understandingwhich may help to improve their situation or alleviate their problems. Contents: Introduction;Actions and Attitudes;The Tramp Versus the Bag Lady; The Paths to Homelessness;Daily Life; Self-Imagesand Dreams; A Matter of Gender; References;Appendices. From Routledge (London and New York), two companion volumes on Feminist Knowledge, edited by Sneja Gunew. A Reader in Feminist Knowledge (1991, Hb UK&O, pb UKE12.99)is an anthology of redent writings in feminism which looks at some areas of feminist struggle. The book is divided into sections on Feminist Knowledge: critique and construct; Feminist Knowledgeand Women's Studies; male theories of power; feminism and subjectivity,philosophy;psychoanalysisand feminism;biology and feminism; religion; Radical Feminism; and Socialist Feminist Interventions. Among many others, contributorsinclude: Bell Hooks, Linda Gordon, Renate Klein, Robyn Rowland, Janice Raymond, Ruth Bleier, CharlotteBunch, Helene Cixous, Elizabeth Grosz, Barbara Taylor, Diane Bell, Jackie Huggins, Mary Daly and Lute Ingaray. Its companion volume, Feminist Knowledge: Critique and Construct (1990) is a collectionof newJsm, mainly from the viewpoint of postmodernism,although radical and socialist.feminisms are also represented. The book considers the contributionsmade by feminist writings to developmentsin post-structuralismand postmodernismand examines how recent theories and writings in turn have influencedfeministhistory. Contributorsinclude: Elizabeth Grosz on tlContemporary theories of power and subjectivity",and on ttPhildsophylt; Robyn Rowland and Renate D Klein on "Radical Feminism: Critique and Construct";md Louise C Johnson on "SocialistFeminisms". MK Changing Perceptions- Writings on Gender and Development,edited by Tina Wallace with Candida March; Oxfam Publications 1991; ~~356; UKc8.35 + 65p postage. Women's needs and abilitiesare too often disregardedby developmentplanners, and "women's projects"are themselvesunhelpful if they reflect gender stereotypes. Changing Perceptionsexplores the debate on gender and developmentand discusses some of the policy changes required if women are to have a greater say in the developmentprocess. Articles from Peggy Antrobus, Diane Elson, Caroline Moser, Ann Whitehead and others include personal testimony, case studies and notes, as well as theoreticalarticles on gender and development. Published to celebrate the first five years of work by Oxfam's Gender and DevelopmentUnit, this book should be read by all with a concern that developmentassistanceshould empower the poorest. (Availablefrom Oxfam Publications,PO Box 120, Oxford, OX2 7FA, UK.) McGill-Queen'sUniversityPress for The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancementof Women (CRIAW), 1991. pp 237. Women and Well-Being,edited by Vanaja Dhruvarajan. The importanceof a concern for women's well-being cannot be overemphasized.

Forum

xv

The pervasive patriarchalassumption is that women are generally responsiblefor the well-being of others. Consequently,the issues dealt with in Women and WellBeing are often ignored. Vanaja Dhruvarajanhas -ted twenty articles from those presented at the eleventh annual Conferenceof the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancementof Women. Together they identify conditionswhich are beneficialor detrimentalto a woman's well-beingand explore ways and means of advancing awareness of the issue. Monique Begin begins the first section, which deals with women's physical and mental health, with a critical evaluation of the Canadian health-caresystem. In the section on women's well-being in the workplace, Caroline Andrew, Cecile Coderre, and Ann Denis examine the situation of a group of women managers, and Nancy Guberman explores the role of women in caring for dependentadults in the home and cormnunity.The third section investigatesthe issue of well-being for minority women: Kabahenda Nyakabwa and Carol D H Harvey analyse the case of Black immigrantwomen and Mary O'Brien reviews the stereotypesof older, unmarried women. In the final section, the authors - among them Marguerite Andersen, Maureen Leyland, and Maureen Jessop Orton - concern themselveswith ensuring the well-beingof women by increasing their power in society through knowledge. Other contributorsto this volume are: Leslie Bella, Cathryn Boak, Dawn Currie, Megan Barker Davies, Claire V de la Durantaye,Gloria R Geller, Madeine Jean Graveline,Elayne M Harris, Andrea Lebowitz, Doris McIlroy, Joanne Prindiville,Monique Raimbault,Ghyslaine Savaria, and Eva A Szekely. This collectionincludes essays in both English and French. Taking the Wheel: Women and the Coming of the Motor Age by Virginia Scharff, The Free Press, New York; US$22.%, is an engaging social history which demonstrateshow perceptionsof women's nature and abilities have continually shaped North American attitudes toward cars, their use, and their design since the first horseless carriages hit the road at the turn of the century. Moreover, Scharff illustrateshow women's attempts to move into the driver's seat, are in fact, emblematicof their greater struggle for equality. The stereotypesthat accompany the notion of a "woman driver" took root when the first autos collided with Victorian ideas of a woman's fragilityand fastidiousness. So when women first began demandinga turn at the new and wonderful invention,their presumptionwas greeted with outrage and derision. Such:lapractice was consideredfrivolous,impracticaland quite dangerous. But these women did not give up their pursuit of the keys. Scharff demonstrates how, far from an isolated issue, the acceptance of women drivers touched a raw nerve in the nation which reverberatedin controversiesraging over women's access to higher education,voting and the professionalwork world. While women unanimouslyembraced the freedoms granted by the automobile,they employed the vehicles in quite diverse manners. The suffragistsviewed the car as a means to bring their message to remote parts of the nation, and organized cross-countrytours. Other women were delighted to express the dynamism of the jazz age in countless and aimless joyrides. From race car drivers to suburban mothers, Scharff explores how women drivers challenged the prevailingnotions of "true womanhoodI1and ultimatelyproduced a new way of life for women. Scharff explores in detail the contributionsthat women have made to American society from the driver's seat - contributionsthat have been aggressively overlooked by automobilehistorians. Whether they were escaping abusive husbands, or shopping in another town, the automobileafforded the twentieth century woman a degree of flexibilitywhich was previouslyunimaginable. Now, as Scharff notes, "anywherethe road leads is woman's place".