Chilla Bulbeck - Böcker

‘Sex, love and feminism’ are three aspects of the rapidly changing gender relations that shape young people’s lives in the Asia Pacific region. Much has been written about rapidly changing countries in Asia, most recently China and India. With the global spread of capitalist production and neo-liberal ideologies, the claim that the rest of the world’s women are treading the path to enlightenment and development forged by women in the West has been revived. This book explores that contention through a comparative analysis of the attitudes of young middle class urbanites in ten countries: the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, India, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. Drawing on detailed empirical research, the study describes and compares attitudes towards the women’s movement, sexual relations and family arrangements in the countries considered. It explores young peoples’ image of feminists and what they feel the women’s movement has achieved for women and men in their country. The book discusses young people’s attitudes to controversial gender issues such as role reversal, sharing housework, abortion rights, same sex sexual relations, nudity and pornography. Through a comparative analysis of the gender vocabularies by which young people understand gender issues, the book highlights the role of differences in history, culture, economics and political leadership. These influence attitudes to gender relations, the status of women and the political programs of the women’s movement in different countries. Whilst there are striking parallels between countries and even across the whole sample, those similarities do not fall neatly into a simple dichotomy of the ‘west versus the rest’.

‘Sex, love and feminism’ are three aspects of the rapidly changing gender relations that shape young people’s lives in the Asia Pacific region. Much has been written about rapidly changing countries in Asia, most recently China and India. With the global spread of capitalist production and neo-liberal ideologies, the claim that the rest of the world’s women are treading the path to enlightenment and development forged by women in the West has been revived. This book explores that contention through a comparative analysis of the attitudes of young middle class urbanites in ten countries: the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, India, Indonesia, China and Vietnam. Drawing on detailed empirical research, the study describes and compares attitudes towards the women’s movement, sexual relations and family arrangements in the countries considered. It explores young peoples’ image of feminists and what they feel the women’s movement has achieved for women and men in their country. The book discusses young people’s attitudes to controversial gender issues such as role reversal, sharing housework, abortion rights, same sex sexual relations, nudity and pornography. Through a comparative analysis of the gender vocabularies by which young people understand gender issues, the book highlights the role of differences in history, culture, economics and political leadership. These influence attitudes to gender relations, the status of women and the political programs of the women’s movement in different countries. Whilst there are striking parallels between countries and even across the whole sample, those similarities do not fall neatly into a simple dichotomy of the ‘west versus the rest’.

In this rich, evocative and challenging 1997 book, Chilla Bulbeck examines the impact of feminism on ordinary Australian women. She argues that the impact of feminism on women's lives has been significant, even though many of the women whose lives have changed because of its influence shun the term 'feminist', or find feminism irrelevant. The lives of sixty women, whose own words and experiences make up most of this book, are set against broader changes in Australian society since the 1950s. These women reveal their attitudes to feminism, but the book's focus is on other aspects of their lives: growing up, education, work, marriage and divorce, motherhood and children, and sex and sexuality. Women of all ages, from various ethnic backgrounds, from cities and the country tell their stories. Partly a history of feminism, the book also unflinchingly considers whether feminism is only relevant to white, middle-class women.

In this rich, evocative and challenging 1997 book, Chilla Bulbeck examines the impact of feminism on ordinary Australian women. She argues that the impact of feminism on women's lives has been significant, even though many of the women whose lives have changed because of its influence shun the term 'feminist', or find feminism irrelevant. The lives of sixty women, whose own words and experiences make up most of this book, are set against broader changes in Australian society since the 1950s. These women reveal their attitudes to feminism, but the book's focus is on other aspects of their lives: growing up, education, work, marriage and divorce, motherhood and children, and sex and sexuality. Women of all ages, from various ethnic backgrounds, from cities and the country tell their stories. Partly a history of feminism, the book also unflinchingly considers whether feminism is only relevant to white, middle-class women.

By the time Australia withdrew from Papua New Guinea in 1975, about 10,000 Australian women had lived there at some stage since 1920. Many came with their husbands who were missionaries, plantation owners or government administrators while numerous others came of their own initative working as teachers, medical practitioners, nurses and missionaries. Chilla Bulbeck's book is an evocative and compelling account of the experiences of white women in Papua New Guinea between the 1920s and the 1960s. It is based on oral interviews and the written documentation of nineteen women and is written against a backdrop of official colonial affairs. By exploring the colonial period through the eyes of women, it offers fresh insight into Papua New Guinea history. Many who have personal colonial experiences will empathise with the book and it will be of interest to historians of the Pacific as well as readers in colonial studies and women's studies.

The agenda of contemporary western feminism focuses on equal participation in work and education, reproductive rights, and sexual freedom. But what does feminism mean to the women of rural India who work someone else's fields, young Thai girls in the sex industry in Bangkok, or Filipino maids working for wealthy women in Hong Kong? In this 1998 book, Chilla Bulbeck presents a bold challenge to the hegemony of white, western feminism in this incisive and wide-ranging exploration of the lived experiences of 'women of colour'. She examines debates on human rights, family relationships, sexuality, and notions of the individual and community to show how their meanings and significance in different parts of the world contest the issues which preoccupy contemporary Anglophone feminists. She then turns the focus back on Anglo culture to illustrate how the theories and politics of western feminism are viewed by non-western women.

The agenda of contemporary western feminism focuses on equal participation in work and education, reproductive rights, and sexual freedom. But what does feminism mean to the women of rural India who work someone else's fields, young Thai girls in the sex industry in Bangkok, or Filipino maids working for wealthy women in Hong Kong? In this 1998 book, Chilla Bulbeck presents a bold challenge to the hegemony of white, western feminism in this incisive and wide-ranging exploration of the lived experiences of 'women of colour'. She examines debates on human rights, family relationships, sexuality, and notions of the individual and community to show how their meanings and significance in different parts of the world contest the issues which preoccupy contemporary Anglophone feminists. She then turns the focus back on Anglo culture to illustrate how the theories and politics of western feminism are viewed by non-western women.

What do wild animals mean to humans? Will they survive both rampant habitat loss and extinction caused by human encroachment and, as ecotourists, our enthusiasm for them? With ecotourism now the fastest growing segment of tourism, and encounters with wild animals - be it swimming with dolphins, going on safari or bird watching - ever more popular, these are critical questions. Yet until now little has been known about why people crave encounters with wild animals and the meaning for the ecotourism industry, conservation efforts and society at large. Facing the Wild is the first serious empirical examination of why people seek out animals in their natural environment, what the desire for this experience tells us about the meanings of animals, nature, authenticity and wilderness in contemporary industrialized societies, and whether visitors change their environmental perspectives and behaviour, as the custodians of wildlife parks would like them to. The book explores the contradictions and ambivalence that so many people experience in the presence of 'wild nature' - in loving it we may diminish it and in the act of wanting to see it we may destroy it. Ultimately the book makes a case for 'respectful stewardship' of a 'hybrid nature' and provides insight for both practitioners and ecotourists alike.