"At last! A critical look at feminist schisms that doesn't trash either side. Chancer's analysis of the sexuality vs. sexism splits is excellent and also makes for wonderful reading. I particularly liked her ideas for a 'third wave' in feminism."—Judith Lorber, CUNY Graduate Center "Reconcilable Differences brings crucial new perspectives to long-standing problems. Chancer's insights enrich our understandings of gender inequality and the policies necessary to address them."—Deborah Rhode, Stanford Law School "In this postmodern world of fractured subjectivity and incommensurabilities, (...) Lynn Chancer boldly argues for the possibility of feminist unity amidst and through our oft-noted differences. A book of rare intelligence and broad applicability, Chancer confronts the thorny debates that have kept feminists fighting each other and unable to reconcile around even the narrowest of agendas. She argues for the vitality of these debates (around sex, around the culture of beauty and, most tempestuously, around pornography) at the same time she pushes them to new places and draws out both new dilemmas and new resolutions for the late-twentieth century feminist. Clearly the work of a creative and complex mind, Chancer's book is destined to become a *must read* for feminists of all persuasions."—Suzanna Danuta Walters, author of Material Girls: making sense of feminist cultural theory. (shrink)

Challenges popular (and often demeaning) myths about why romantic fiction, one of publishing's most lucrative categories, captivates millions of women readers. In a new introduction, author Radway places the book within the context of current scholarship and offers both an explanation and critique of the study's limitations.--From publisher description.

The feminist sex wars have been characterized by debates between radical feminists and sex radical feminists about women's experiences of empowerment versus oppression in the sex industry. Based on a qualitative study of the experiences of exotic dancers, this article introduces a new theoretical paradigm to the feminist sex wars that values the contributions of both sex radicals and radical feminists. It articulates a twofold temporal dimension of sex workers' experiences: how women's feelings of pleasure and empowerment gradually decline over (...) time and how good and bad experiences rapidly transform into their opposites over the course of a single evening, making the strip bar a volatile and unsettling space for performers. (shrink)