Sing Us a Song, Piano Woman: Female Fans and the Music of Tori Amos explores the many-layered relationships female fans build with feminist musicians in general and with Tori Amos, in particular. Using original interview research with more than forty fans of Tori Amos, multiple observer-participant experiences at Amos’s concerts, and critical content analysis of Amos’s lyrics and larger body of work, Adrienne Trier-Bieniek utilizes a combination of gender, emotions, music, and activism to unravel the typecasts plaguing female fans. Trier-Bieniek aggressively challenges the popular culture stereotypes that have painted all female fans as screaming, crying teenage girls who are unable to control themselves when a favorite (generally male) performer occupies the stage. In stunning contrast, admirers of Tori Amos comprise a more introspective category of fan. Sing Us a Son, Piano Woman examines the wide range of stories from these listeners, exploring how Amos’s female fans are unique because Amos places the experiences of women at the center of her music. Tori Amos’s fan base is considered devoted because of the deeply emotional, often healing, connection they have to her music, an aspect that has been overlooked, particularly in sociological and cultural research on gender, emotions and music. Tori Amos’s female fans as a social phenomenon are vital for understanding the multi-layered relationships women can have with female singer/songwriters. At a time when superficial women dominate public media presentations, from the Kardashians to the “Real Housewives,” the relationship between Tori Amos and her fans illustrates the continuous search by women for female performers who challenge patriarchal standards in popular culture. Trier-Bieniek’s research serves as a springboard for further study of women in pop culture whose purpose is empower and provoke their fans, as well as change society.

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). David Rosenthal has carefully arranged all the tracks from Joel's classic 1973 release to combine the piano parts and vocal melodies into playable arrangements while transcribing those classic piano parts that are integral to each song. This book features the iconic title track and nine others: Ain't No Crime * (The) Ballad of Billy the Kid * Captain Jack * If I Only Had the Words (To Tell You) * Somewhere Along the Line * Stop in Nevada * Travelin' Prayer * Worse Comes to Worst * You're My Home.

Gender and Pop Culture provides a foundation for the study of gender, pop culture, and media. This newly updated edition is comprehensive and interdisciplinary, providing both text-book style introductory and concluding chapters written by the editor. The text includes eight original contributor chapters on key topics and written in a variety of writing styles, discussion questions, additional resources, and more. Coverage includes: – Foundations for studying gender and pop culture (history, theory, methods, key concepts). – Contributor chapters on social media, technology, advertising, music, television, film, and sports. – Ideas for activism and putting this book to use beyond the classroom. – Pedagogical features. – Suggestions for further readings on topics covered and international studies of gender and pop culture. Gender and Pop Culture was designed with students in mind, to promote reflection and lively discussion. With features found in both textbooks and anthologies, this sleek book can serve as a primary or supplemental reading in courses across disciplines.

In the broad spectrum of popular culture, one can be a fan of just about anything: comic books, television shows, fantasy novels, movie franchises, musical artists, and so on. Because fans are fluid and ever-changing, however, defining them poses a challenge. As a result, too few scholars have yet to focus on the impact of gender in media consumption, leading to a limited portrait of what male and female fans look for. In Fan Girls and the Media: Creating Characters, Consuming Culture, Adrienne Trier-Bieniek has assembled a collection of essays that demonstrate the gendered aspect of fandom and explore the ways different forms of media challenge stereotypical ideals of how culture is consumed. Contributors examine a wide range of fan issues—from gendered stereotypes in the Star Trek and Twilight franchises to gender roles in Tyler Perry films and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Other essays look at the female comedy fan community, the appeal of avenging-woman characters written by men, and the use of social media by women in the video-game culture. This collection describes how gender is present in fandom, demonstrating the need to combat the marginalization of female identities in various cultural outlets. Fan Girls and the Media will be of interest to anyone studying fandom but also students and scholars of sociology, media, and gender studies.

Privilege Through the Looking-Glass is a collection of original essays that explore privilege and status characteristics in daily life. This collection seeks to make visible that which is often invisible. It seeks to sensitize us to things we have been taught not to see. Privilege, power, oppression, and domination operate in complex and insidious ways, impacting groups and individuals. And yet, these forces that affect our lives so deeply seem to at once operate in plain sight and lurk in the shadows, making them difficult to discern. Like water to a fish, environments are nearly impossible to perceive when we are immersed in them. This book attempts to expose our environments. With engaging and powerful writing, the contributors share their personal stories as a means of connecting the personal and the public. This volume applies an intersectional perspective to explore how race, class, gender, sexuality, education, and ableness converge, creating the basis for privilege and oppression. Privilege Through the Looking-Glass encourages readers to engage in self and social reflection, and can be used in a range of courses in sociology, social work, communication, education, gender studies, and African American studies. Each chapter includes discussion questions and/or activities for further engagement. “Privilege Through the Looking-Glass offers a varied and profound examination of how privilege functions as the underside of power. This is a powerful and important book about inequality, identity, agency, and the challenge of addressing difference as part of a democratic ethos in a time of growing authoritarianism all over the world. Every educator should read this book.” – Henry A. Giroux, Professor, McMaster University “A courageous volume that blends theory, personal experiences, and reflections on contemporary debates over identity. This is a book that is more about the politics of identity than identity politics. It is a powerful testament to the urgency of understanding privilege and deserves to be read widely.” – Peter McLaren, Distinguished Professor, Chapman University “Privilege Through the Looking-Glass unmasks the casual ‘isms’ that suppress the best aspects of our humanity, by assembling a powerful and honest collection of parables. Poignant and unflinching, the contributors eschew to the cloak of objectivism to give the hard truth about privilege as a social ill, and the collective responsibility of the conscious community to confront all forms of oppression... this book has lessons for anyone with the spirit to explore better ways to be themselves and relate to others.” – Ivory A. Toldson, Professor, Howard University, and Editor-in-Chief for The Journal of Negro Education Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is an award-winning independent sociologist and best-selling author.

Feminism, Appalachian culture, and country music: three threads beautifully woven into one in Marianne Worthington's poetry collection The Girl Singer. The poet grew up in urban Appalachia, listening to country and folk music and letting it live within her. The speakers in The Girl Singer offer lyrical celebrations of the women who performed that music and recite their stories anew. The girl singer is also the poet—one who traces loss through turning seasons, monitors the patterns of neighborhood wildlife, and creates a sisterhood for singing old songs in new ways. The Girl Singer is part family history, part music, and part nature walk. Worthington's attentive eye and heart are reflected in the starkly striking and painful images she paints in the poems. Every poem, whether describing a connection with Appalachian wildlife, retelling the lyrics of a classic country tune, reflecting on the speaker's bloodline, or giving voice to famous musical figures of the past, strikes a powerful chord.

This entertaining memoir provides a glimpse into the comedies, tragedies, and mundane miracles witnessed from the business perspective of a world-traveling lounge musician.

This book is written with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who speaks to the author in the form of the Father and the Son. It follows the path of Jesus from the book of Psalms and speaks to the author directly from certain scriptures, giving her daily messages to strengthen and encourage women who are experiencing trials and tribulations in their lives. The Holy Spirit uses some of the authors own experiences to reach out and touch women. Scriptures are brought to life for readers as they are able to relive them and fully understand why they were written, applying the meanings in their present lives.