A queer teen rebel escapes small-town Appalachia and becomes Los Angeles's Renowned Lesbian Dominatrix in this searing and darkly funny memoir that upends our understanding of sexuality, class, and power.';The dominatrix is the id of American femininity,' writes Chris Belcher. ';She says the words that we wish we could say when we find ourselves frozen. No is principal among them.' From an early age, Belcher appeared destined for a life of conventional femininity. At all of eight months old, she took first place in an infant beauty contest, a minor glory that tends to follow you around a working-class town of 1,600 people in rural Appalachia. As a high school freshman, she goes along with what's expected of her: joining the cheerleaders and winning over the boys. Girls who cater to male desire are admired. But admiration is fleeting, double standards are enraging, and Belcher is restless for a chance to act on her own desires. When she falls in love with another girl and shares the se
Ginzburg–Landau theory is an important tool in condensed matter physics research, describing the ordered phases of condensed matter, including the dynamics, elasticity, and thermodynamics of the condensed configurations. In this systematic introduction to Ginzberg–Landau theory, both common and topological excitations are considered on the same footing (including their thermodynamics and dynamical phenomena). The role of the topological versus energetic considerations is made clear. Required mathematics (symmetry, including lattice translation, topology, and perturbative techniques) are introduced as needed. The results are illustrated using arguably the most fascinating class of such systems, high Tc superconductors subject to magnetic field. This book is an important reference for both researchers and graduate students working in condensed matter physics or can act as a textbook for those taking advanced courses on these topics.
The language of young people is central in sociolinguistic research, as it is seen to be innovative and a primary source of knowledge about linguistic change and the role of language. This volume brings together a team of leading scholars to explore and compare linguistic practices of young people in multilingual urban spaces, with analyses ranging from grammar to ideology. It includes fascinating examples from cities in Europe, Africa, Canada and the US to demonstrate how young people express their identities through language, for example in hip-hop lyrics and new social media. This is the first book to cover the topic from a globally diverse perspective, and it investigates how linguistic practices across different communities intersect with age, ethnicity, gender and class. In doing so it shows commonalities and differences in how young people experience, act and relate to the contemporary social, cultural and linguistic complexity of the twenty-first century.
How do middle-class Americans become aware of distant social problems and act against them? US colleges, congregations, and seminaries increasingly promote immersion travel as a way to bridge global distance, produce empathy, and increase global awareness. But does it? Drawing from a mixed methods study of a progressive, religious immersion travel organization at the US-Mexico border, Empathy Beyond US Borders provides a broad sociological context for the rise of immersion travel as a form of transnational civic engagement. Gary J. Adler, Jr follows alongside immersion travelers as they meet undocumented immigrants, walk desert trails, and witness deportations. His close observations combine with interviews and surveys to evaluate the potential of this civic action, while developing theory about culture, empathy, and progressive religion in transnational civic life. This timely book describes the moralization of travel, the organizational challenges of transnational engagement, and the
