Anthropology began as the study of how diverse cultures shape differently the human condition. Culture, it was understood, makes the man or woman. More recently, this has been seen as too conservative a credo and some anthropologists have shifted to a study of how people overcome culture. This shift in emphasis from acculturation to empowerment is reflected in this collection of essays on feminism written over a 20-year time span. The earliest essay details the cultural subordination of women. The later essays are accounts of women bucking male domination, including a fascinating account of liberated Western women climbing in the Himalayas. Its complex portrait of sexual liaisons with local porters, of demands for female porters, and the effect on the local culture, creates an apt symbol of women seeking power and climbing a mountain

Making Gender is both retrospective as well as progressive, an anthology that functions as theoretical compendium, ethnographical exploration, and intellectual autobiography. The seven essays span 25 years of scholarship by Sherry Ortner, a founder of feminist anthropology. By stitching them together in one volume, Ortner chronicles both her own intellectual development as well that of anthropology in recent years. Ortner's methodology in using feminism, Marxism, and postmodern cultural theory in order to enrich anthropology is thought-provoking.

In "Making Gender" (1996) Ortner contextualises her own work as part of a struggle with structuralism and universalism. She identifies her overall project as an investigation of agency: "looking at and listening to real people doing real things in a given historical moment, past or present, and trying to figure out what they are doing or have done will or will not reconfigure the world they live in". The model she suggests is that of "serious games," culturally organised social episodes in which players retain some degree of agency; as Ortner explains, "actors play with skill, intention, wit, knowledge, intelligence".

"Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?" raises the issue of "the universality of female subordination." The author does not subscribe to the idea of biological determinism being the main reason for women's "pan-cultural" subordination. She argues that it is women's social association with the raising of children and home that makes them closer to "nature" than men. Women represent a cultural intermediary, while men signify culture itself. "The Virgin and the State" links the emergence of the state with the development of female purity as an ideological prerequisite for family honour and status.

"Rank and Gender" studies Polynesian cultures in an effort to uncover the subtle connections between prestige and gender, status and sexuality. "The Problem of 'Women' as an Analytical Category" explores different cultural narratives surrounding the founding of a Sherpa monastery and a Sherpa nunnery. "Gender Hegemonies" and "Borderland Politics and Erotics" dwell on the universality of male dominance.

Setting: contemporary Virginia, France, Iran
Sensuality: 7

CIA agent John Medina and electronics expert Niemi Burdock share a violent past: the two were part of a covert operation that went tragically wrong, resulting in the death of several people. Now, five years later, their paths cross again and John, whose love for Niemi has only grown over time, is determined to keep her in his life for good. Having spent the intervening five years living a solitary, staid existence--due to feelings of guilt over the ill-fated operation--Niemi is somewhat reluctant to re-enter the shadowy world she once inhabited. Still, she can't resist the lure and excitement of danger when John asks her to join him on his latest mission to discover the origins of a deadly new explosive already in use by terrorists.

Concocting a plan to reveal the source of the explosive, the two enter into a dangerous masquerade, walking a tightrope between safety and death, while passion boils beneath the surface. Unaware of John's feelings, Niemi fights her physical response to the legendary agent as her emotions, in frozen limbo for the last five years, thaw with astonishing speed.

First introduced in Kill and Tell, agent John Medina is as intriguing as the perilous world he operates in. Watching him in action, à la James Bond, is exhilarating--as is the single-minded intensity of his feelings for Niemi, whose ability to hold her own with John--on both a personal and professional level--and with the host of terrorists, spies, and double-dealers the pair encounter is impressive to say the least. Throw in a couple of chilling chase scenes, some romantic interludes hot enough to peel paint from the walls, and one or two bigger-than-life internationally connected characters, and you've got the latest from Linda Howard--a romantic thriller that's sure to be coming soon to a bestseller list near you.

 

Book Description

In six New York Times bestsellers, including her smashing hardcover debut Now You See Her, Linda Howard has seamlessly melded thrilling sensuality and heart-pounding dramatic tension. Now she brings back the elusive hero who first appeared in her acclaimed page-turner Kill and Tell -- in a new blockbuster that is part suspense, part passion, and pure Linda Howard.

No one can get close to John Medina, the CIA's legendary Black Ops specialist who works in the shadows of the government's deadliest missions. He is a virtual invisible man, with no friends, many enemies, and a cloud of suspicion surrounding the death of his wife. And no one knows the dangers better than Niema Burdock. A sharp, steely nerved communications expert, Niema and her husband, Dallas, worked side by side with Medina on an explosive mission that went tragically wrong.

She could hear it all play out, horribly, on the radio: Dallas set off the detonators at John Medina's command -- and found himself trapped in the crossfire. In a shattering blast, Niema's hope and her love were destroyed...

Now Niema has withdrawn to a quiet Intelligence position, and a safe -- if predictable -- existence that has helped her heal her scars from five years ago. And she never planned to see Medina again.

But now John Medina needs her...

A French arms dealer is supplying international terrorist units, and John Medina must infiltrate his compound and crack the deadly ring. But only Niema can plant the undetectable bugs needed to nail the wary and well-connected dealer -- a feat that begins by going undercover and winning his trust. Working her way into his glamorous world of embassy galas and exclusive parties, Niema steps carefully across a minefield of intimate secrets, luring the Frenchman while inviting disaster with every subtle and seductive play. But when their careful strategy begins to crack, Niema and John take flight in a strange land -- and find their partnership sparking with an erotically charged, unquenchable electricity. In a world of deception, one thing is clear: John Medina has once again set Niema on a freefall into danger and desire -- and one can't exist without the other.