Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures ─ Family, Body, Sexuality And Health

The 3rd volume of this impressive reference presents entries on topics that include aging, amulets, child marriage, childhood, coming of age rituals, drug use, health education, reproductive health, marriage practices, reproduction, and practices of sexuality. Following a general overview, each of these topics is then broken down into separate entries by geographic region, including the Arab states, Central Asia, Europe, Iran and Afghanistan, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, the U.S., and Canada, among others. Each entry is written by one of an international group of specialists and includes a list of bibliography. A lengthy appendix analyzing dissertations from 1960-2002 is included which describes in detail the various subjects of research, then breaks the entire bibliography down by country. This is a rich resource and will be of use to specialists and their students in a variety of disciplines. Joseph is at the U. of California, Davis. Annotation c2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Suad Joseph, Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, is Professor of Anthropology and Womens Studies at the University of California, Davis. She has published Intimate Selving in Arab Families: Gender, Self and Identity (Syracuse University Press,1999), Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East (Syracuse University Press, 2000).