Sarah Riley – författare

Key cultural shifts have enabled a "new sexualization" of women. Neoliberal, consumerist, and postfeminist media culture have shaped ways of understanding female sexuality, embodied by the figure of the choosing, empowered, entrepreneurial consumer citizen-woman, whose economic capital determines feminine success (and failure). Informed by older constructs of privilege such as class, sexuality, race and (dis)ability, this version of sexiness also constrains by folding contemporary femininity back into previous panics about youth, excess, "bad" consumption, and appropriate feminine behavior. In Technologies of Sexiness, Adrienne Evans and Sarah Riley identify how current understandings of sexiness in public life and academic discourse have produced a "doubled stagnation," cycling around old debates without forward momentum. Developing a theoretical and methodological framework, they expand on the notion of a "technology of sexiness." They ask what happens and what is lost when people make sense of themselves within the complexities and contradictions of consumer-oriented constructs of sexiness. How do these discourses come to "transform the self"?This book provides a framework for understanding how women make sense of their sexual identities in the context of a feminization of sexual consumerism. The authors analyze material collected with two groups of women: the "pleasure pursuers" and "functioning feminists," who broadly occupy positions across the pre- and post-Thatcher eras, and the changes brought about by the feminist movement. As one of the first book-length empirical studies to explore age-related femininities in the context of what "sexiness" means today, the authors develop a series of insights into various "technologies of the self" through analyses of space, nostalgia, and claims to authentic sexiness.

Postfeminism and Body Image is a groundbreaking work that provides a poststructuralist and psychosocial analysis of key issues at the intersections of body image, psychology and media. The book outlines the theoretical framework through the work of renowned philosophers, Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, and their use in feminist scholarship, to address body-image issues and challenges in the context of a postfeminist sensibility. The authors rethink body image, calling into question assumptions and obligations that affect recent issues related to social-media use, body positivity, the transformation imperative, body shaming and muscular masculinity. The analysis shows the advantage of seeing body image as a form of non-linear warfare, structured by contradiction, confusion and critique, where attempts to challenge oppressive body image practices are appropriated under the guise of positive alternatives to maintain that oppression. Through real-world examples, these nuanced concepts are made relatable and comprehensible to the readers. The book also offers a number of affirmative and hopeful ways forward. This is an indispensable resource for students and professionals of Gender studies, Health Psychology, Social Psychology and Media and Cultural Studies. It is also ideal for anyone exploring body image, self-image, postfeminism and poststructualism.

Postfeminism and Body Image is a groundbreaking work that provides a poststructuralist and psychosocial analysis of key issues at the intersections of body image, psychology and media. The book outlines the theoretical framework through the work of renowned philosophers, Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, and their use in feminist scholarship, to address body-image issues and challenges in the context of a postfeminist sensibility. The authors rethink body image, calling into question assumptions and obligations that affect recent issues related to social-media use, body positivity, the transformation imperative, body shaming and muscular masculinity. The analysis shows the advantage of seeing body image as a form of non-linear warfare, structured by contradiction, confusion and critique, where attempts to challenge oppressive body image practices are appropriated under the guise of positive alternatives to maintain that oppression. Through real-world examples, these nuanced concepts are made relatable and comprehensible to the readers. The book also offers a number of affirmative and hopeful ways forward. This is an indispensable resource for students and professionals of Gender studies, Health Psychology, Social Psychology and Media and Cultural Studies. It is also ideal for anyone exploring body image, self-image, postfeminism and poststructualism.

'Thanks to this new book, psychology students now have a trustworthy and practical guide that takes them through all stages of qualitative research with rich examples and different paradigmatic perspectives.'

Svend Brinkmann, Aalborg University, Denmark

'A well thought-out, accessible and engaging guide to conducting qualitative research projects. This is a must-read for any student beginning the qualitative journey.'

Abigail Locke, University of Huddersfield, UK

This book is for students who are embarking on a qualitative research project in psychology or a related discipline. While focusing mainly on undergraduate dissertations, this book will also be useful for postgraduate students. It takes you through planning a qualitative project, stage by stage, addressing key issues and concerns along the way. The focus throughout is on how to make your project excellent!

 

Packed full of examples from student projects to help you to put theory into practice, the book guides you through:

 

• designing your research

• ethical considerations

• collecting your data

• analysing your data

• writing your report or dissertation.

 

In addition, the book will help you with time management and working with your supervisor, as well as providing guidance on how you can use your project as the basis for publication or further study.

'Thanks to this new book, psychology students now have a trustworthy and practical guide that takes them through all stages of qualitative research with rich examples and different paradigmatic perspectives.'

Svend Brinkmann, Aalborg University, Denmark

'A well thought-out, accessible and engaging guide to conducting qualitative research projects. This is a must-read for any student beginning the qualitative journey.'

Abigail Locke, University of Huddersfield, UK

This book is for students who are embarking on a qualitative research project in psychology or a related discipline. While focusing mainly on undergraduate dissertations, this book will also be useful for postgraduate students. It takes you through planning a qualitative project, stage by stage, addressing key issues and concerns along the way. The focus throughout is on how to make your project excellent!

 

Packed full of examples from student projects to help you to put theory into practice, the book guides you through:

 

• designing your research

• ethical considerations

• collecting your data

• analysing your data

• writing your report or dissertation.

 

In addition, the book will help you with time management and working with your supervisor, as well as providing guidance on how you can use your project as the basis for publication or further study.

Winner of the 2021 BPS Book Award: Academic Text category, this groundbreaking book employs a transdisciplinary and poststructuralist methodology to develop the concept of ‘postfeminist healthism,’ a twenty-first-century understanding of women’s physical and mental health formed at the intersections of postfeminist sensibilities, neoliberal constructs of citizenship and the notion of health as an individual responsibility managed through consumption. Postfeminist healthism is used in this book to explore seven topics where postfeminist sensibility has the most impact on women’s health: self-help, weight, surgical technologies, sex, pregnancy, responsibilities for others’ health and pro-anorexia communities. The book explores the ways in which the desire to be normal and live a good life is tied to expectations of ‘normal-perfection’ circulated across interpersonal interactions, media representations and expert discourses. It diagnoses postfeminist healthism as unhealthy for both those women who participate in it and those whom it excludes and considers how more positive directions may emerge. By exploring the under-researched intersection of postfeminism and health studies, this book will be invaluable to researchers and students in psychology, gender and women’s studies, health research, media studies and sociology.

Winner of the 2021 BPS Book Award: Academic Text category, this groundbreaking book employs a transdisciplinary and poststructuralist methodology to develop the concept of ‘postfeminist healthism,’ a twenty-first-century understanding of women’s physical and mental health formed at the intersections of postfeminist sensibilities, neoliberal constructs of citizenship and the notion of health as an individual responsibility managed through consumption. Postfeminist healthism is used in this book to explore seven topics where postfeminist sensibility has the most impact on women’s health: self-help, weight, surgical technologies, sex, pregnancy, responsibilities for others’ health and pro-anorexia communities. The book explores the ways in which the desire to be normal and live a good life is tied to expectations of ‘normal-perfection’ circulated across interpersonal interactions, media representations and expert discourses. It diagnoses postfeminist healthism as unhealthy for both those women who participate in it and those whom it excludes and considers how more positive directions may emerge. By exploring the under-researched intersection of postfeminism and health studies, this book will be invaluable to researchers and students in psychology, gender and women’s studies, health research, media studies and sociology.

Embarking on your own psychology research? This book equips you with the skills you need to complete a qualitative project confidently.

The book takes you through the process of doing your project, showing how to plan and execute each stage. It helps you make good decisions about key steps such as choosing a research topic, designing your project, doing ethical research and writing up.

This second edition:

Offers a host of learning features including ‘in a nutshell’ summaries, further reading, activities and top tips to help you develop your understanding and skills. Devotes more space to the important topics of project planning and doing ethical research with a new chapter on each. Enables you to critically evaluate your work, helping you conduct high-quality research. Discusses student success stories and cautionary tales illustrating, from start to finish, how qualitative projects are done in the real world.

This is the perfect guide for undergraduates doing a final project or dissertation, and postgraduates who are relatively new to qualitative research.

Embarking on your own psychology research? This book equips you with the skills you need to complete a qualitative project confidently.

The book takes you through the process of doing your project, showing how to plan and execute each stage. It helps you make good decisions about key steps such as choosing a research topic, designing your project, doing ethical research and writing up.

This second edition:

Offers a host of learning features including ‘in a nutshell’ summaries, further reading, activities and top tips to help you develop your understanding and skills. Devotes more space to the important topics of project planning and doing ethical research with a new chapter on each. Enables you to critically evaluate your work, helping you conduct high-quality research. Discusses student success stories and cautionary tales illustrating, from start to finish, how qualitative projects are done in the real world.

This is the perfect guide for undergraduates doing a final project or dissertation, and postgraduates who are relatively new to qualitative research.

An easy-to-use practical guide to mixed-media printmaking including instructions for other printmaking techniques.Practical Mixed-Media Printmaking is an essential introduction to printmaking using a wide range of low-cost materials. This practical guide includes easy-to-follow instructions, hints and tips on all of the main printmaking techniques, as well as over 90 examples of works by contemporary printmakers and 19 profiles explaining the artists' methods and inspiration. As mixed-media printmaking allows vast freedom for experimentation, discover how to adapt and refine basic techniques to suit your own projects and gather inspiration regardless of your level.

This book offers a trailblazing account of postfeminist sensibility as a digital feeling that shapes how we understand the world around us.