Paula J Caplan

The authors first demonstrate that most of the claims about sex and gender are not well supported by research, and then provide readers with constructive critical tools they can apply to this wealth of research to come to realistic, constructive conclusions. All of this is provided in a concise, inexpensive volume by a best-selling trade author and instructor team.

Why are those devastated by war or other military experiences called mentally ill? The standard treatment of therapy and drugs can actually be harmful, and huge numbers of suffering veterans from earlier eras demonstrate its inadequacy. Most of us are both war-illiterate and military-illiterate. Caplan proposes that we welcome veterans back into our communities and listen to their experiences, one-on-one. Beginning a long overdue national discussion about the realities of war and the military will help us bridge the dangerous chasms between veterans and nonveterans.

This groundbreaking book challenges the medicalized approach to women's experiences including menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause and suggests that there are better ways for women to cope with real issues they may face.Before any woman diets, douches, botoxes, reduces, reconstructs, or fills a prescription for antidepressants, statins, hormones, menstrual suppressants, or diet pills, she should read this book. Contesting common medical practice, the book addresses the many aspects of women's lives that have been targeted as "deficient" in order to support the billion-dollar profits of the medical-pharmacological industry and suggests alternatives to these "remedies."The contributors—psychologists, sociologists, and health experts—are also gender experts and feminist scholars who recognize the ways in which gender is an important aspect of the human experience. In this eye-opening work, they challenge the marketing and "science" that increasingly render women's bodies and experiences as a series of symptoms, diseases, and dysfunctions that require treatment by medical professionals who prescribe pharmaceutical and surgical interventions. Each article in the book addresses the marketing of a specific "condition" that has been constructed in a way that convinces a woman that her body is inadequate or her experience and behavior are not good enough. Among the topics addressed are menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, post-partum adjustment, sexual desire, weight, body dissatisfaction, moodiness, depression, grief, and anxiety.

On death row, elder inmate Cleveland has taken young, mentally challenged Bradley under his wing and is trying to teach him to read. When word arrives that Bradleys new lawyer has arranged for him to take a mental competency test, Cleveland tries to convince Bradley that this is one test he does not want to pass.

The authors first demonstrate that most of the claims about sex and gender are not well supported by research, and then provide readers with constructive critical tools they can apply to this wealth of research to come to realistic, constructive conclusions. All of this is provided in a concise, inexpensive volume by a best-selling trade author and instructor team.

"Finally, a definitive study that debunks one of Freud's most damaging myths--that women are inherently masochistic--...offers healthier ways...to view female behavior." "MS. Magazine" "Concrete, convincing...sensible...revolutionary, calling for nothing short of a revision in our thinking about women..." "Philadelphia Inquirer" ..."not a quick-fix pop psychology do-it-yourselfer but a thoughtful examination of a persistent, self-defeating myth." "Chicago Tribune" ..."outstanding scholarly debunking of [an] extremely damaging cultural belief...it contains valuable lessons for...the mental health professions." "Readings" "So convincing are her arguments...that often one is left wondering how on earth such theories could ever have been taken seriously." "Morning Star," London