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Seriously!: Investigating Crashes and Crises as If Women Mattered
In Seriously!, Cynthia Enloe, author of the groundbreaking analysis of globalization, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, addresses two deeply gendered and contested questions: Who is taken seriously? And who gets to bestow the label “serious” on others? With a strategy of taking both women and gender dynamics seriously, Cynthia Enloe investigates the Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair and the banking crash of 2008, the subsequent recession, as well as UN peacekeeping and the ongoing Egyptian revolution. Each case study highlights the gritty experiences of women in diverse circumstances—in banks, on the job market, in war zones, and in revolutions. The results of taking women seriously are fresh insights into what fuels the cultures of hyper–risk taking, of sexual harassment, and the denial of women’s post-war security.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Enloe
43 books114 followersCynthia Holden Enloe is a feminist writer, theorist, and professor.
She is best known for her work on gender and militarism and for her contributions to the field of feminist international relations. She has done pioneering feminist research into international politics and political economy, and has considerable contribution to building a more inclusive feminist scholarly community.
Cynthia Enloe was born in New York, New York and grew up in Manhasset, Long Island, a New York suburb. Her father was from Missouri and went to medical school in Germany from 1933 to 1936. Her mother went to Mills College and married Cynthia's father upon graduation.
After completing her undergraduate education at Connecticut College in 1960, she went on to earn an M.A. in 1963 and a Ph.D. in 1967 in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkely, Enloe was the first woman ever to be a Head TA for Aaron Wildavsky, then an up-and-coming star in the field of American Politics.
Enloe states that she has been influenced by many other feminists who use an ethnographic approach, specifically, Seung-Kyung Kim’s (1997) work on South Korean women factory workers during the pro-democracy campaign and Anne Allison’s (1994) work on observing corporate businessmen’s interactions with hostesses in a Tokyo drinking club. Enloe has also listed Diane Singerman, Purnima Mankekar, and Cathy Lutz as people who have inspired and influenced her work.
She is best known for her work on gender and militarism and for her contributions to the field of feminist international relations. She has done pioneering feminist research into international politics and political economy, and has considerable contribution to building a more inclusive feminist scholarly community.
Cynthia Enloe was born in New York, New York and grew up in Manhasset, Long Island, a New York suburb. Her father was from Missouri and went to medical school in Germany from 1933 to 1936. Her mother went to Mills College and married Cynthia's father upon graduation.
After completing her undergraduate education at Connecticut College in 1960, she went on to earn an M.A. in 1963 and a Ph.D. in 1967 in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkely, Enloe was the first woman ever to be a Head TA for Aaron Wildavsky, then an up-and-coming star in the field of American Politics.
Enloe states that she has been influenced by many other feminists who use an ethnographic approach, specifically, Seung-Kyung Kim’s (1997) work on South Korean women factory workers during the pro-democracy campaign and Anne Allison’s (1994) work on observing corporate businessmen’s interactions with hostesses in a Tokyo drinking club. Enloe has also listed Diane Singerman, Purnima Mankekar, and Cathy Lutz as people who have inspired and influenced her work.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 25, 2015
This was a good, feminist critique of issues that I often don't see covered through such a lens. I learned a lot from the book, and came across a number of good pointers to other feminist economists and researchers, that I will be following up on.
My only criticism is the tone of the book occasionally: throughout the book, I feel like Enloe is trying to convince the reader that feminist analysis is useful and important. But in my mind, the target audience of this book is already fairly convinced that looking at these global phenomena through a feminist lens is a hugely useful perspective; so I'm not sure how warranted such attempted "convincing" really is. After being told multiple times that feminist critique is important, while reading the book, I felt like it was slight overkill!
I would recommend this book for a different perspective to many global issues that we hear about in mainstream media.
My only criticism is the tone of the book occasionally: throughout the book, I feel like Enloe is trying to convince the reader that feminist analysis is useful and important. But in my mind, the target audience of this book is already fairly convinced that looking at these global phenomena through a feminist lens is a hugely useful perspective; so I'm not sure how warranted such attempted "convincing" really is. After being told multiple times that feminist critique is important, while reading the book, I felt like it was slight overkill!
I would recommend this book for a different perspective to many global issues that we hear about in mainstream media.
September 11, 2019
Feminist scholar and activist Dr. Cynthia Enlo discusses and encourages readers to perform “feminist informed” interrogations of major historical events and sociocultural phenomena. In the introductory chapter, she posits what at first appears to be an outdated theory of patriarchal society. Enlo contends that sociocultural, economic, historical, or political analyses that fail to take into account the lives and functions of women are flawed. This observation takes on greater urgency when considered in the context of current events. Ultimately, she contends, not only is it imperative that we recognize the insidious nature of patriarchy, but it is essential that we recognize the sociopolitical ramifications of upholding an ideological construct under which women and women’s concerns are trivialized.
April 27, 2015
Enloe at her smartest. This is a feminist-conscious analysis of everything from financial crises to the Egyptian revolution. My favorite parts were that (a) Enloe is very honest and personal about her own failings to perform gender analysis or hone feminist curiosity in the past and (b) Enloe is brilliant at providing a gender lens for phenomena and dynamics that appear to NOT be gendered (but in fact very much are!)
October 4, 2016
Awesome and easy to read
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews