Good Sex: Feminist Perspectives from the World's Religions

by Patricia Beattie Jung, Mary E. Hunt, Radhika Balakrishnan

Overview

What is "good sex" in the globalized world of the twenty-first century? This volume brings together essays by feminist scholars from different religions and cultures to consider how women are redefining sexuality for the common good. The essays explore sexual and social restrictions on women; religiously and socially acceptable avenues of sexual expression; constructions of sexual identities; and attitudes toward women's sexual desires. How is sexual desire constructed within specific cultural and religious contexts? What sacrifices must women make (and how do they make them) simply to have sexual lives? What options and strategies are available to women to dissolve the many restrictions imposed on their sexuality? These are some of the questions being explored.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813528847
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	12/01/2000
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Patricia Beattie Jung is an associate professor of theology at Loyola University Chicago and is coauthor of Heterosexism: An Ethical Challenge.

Mary E. Hunt is cofounder and codirector of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER) in Silver Spring, Maryland, and author of Fierce Tenderness: A Feminist Theology of Friendship.

Radhika Balakrishnan is an associate professor of international studies at Marymount Manhattan College.

Editorial Reviews

This groundbreaking collection of 11 articles by women from eight countries and seven religious traditions challenges male-defined ideas of sexuality that have constricted women by denying them pleasure and autonomous agency and threatening their well-being and, sometimes, lives. The essays critique "dominating forms of inclusivity and blanket generalizations," explore the high price sexuality has exacted of many women, propose "concrete suggestions for social changes, so that women may experience good sex," analyze interpretations of sexuality, and suggest "ways women might faithfully resist normative constructions of their sexuality." While the contributors do not always agree, they do recognize the importance of global and interdisciplinary perspectives and affirm the tension women experience when they work for change from within a repressive tradition. Editors Jung (theology, Loyola Univ., Chicago), Mary Hunt (codirector, Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual), and Radhika Balakrishnan (international studies, Marymount Manhattan Coll.) have created an outstanding book. Recommended for academic, public, and seminary libraries.--Carolyn M. Craft. Longwood Coll., Farmville, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal