Synopses & Reviews
2010 Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award from the American Sociological Association; Race, Gender, and Class Section2008 Finalist, The Society for the Study of Social Problems C. Wright Mills Award
Much has been written about the challenges that face urban African American young men, but less is said about the harsh realities for African American young women in disadvantaged communities. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and even gang rape are not uncommon experiences. In Getting Played, sociologist Jody Miller presents a compelling picture of this dire social problem and explores how inextricably, and tragically, linked violence is to their daily lives in poor urban neighborhoods.
Drawing from richly textured interviews with adolescent girls and boys, Miller brings a keen eye to the troubling realities of a world infused with danger and gender-based violence. These girls are isolated, ignored, and often victimized by those considered family and friends. Community institutions such as the police and schools that are meant to protect them often turn a blind eye, leaving girls to fend for themselves. Miller draws a vivid picture of the race and gender inequalities that harm these communitiesand how these result in deeply and dangerously engrained beliefs about gender that teach youths to see such violencerather than the result of broader social inequalitiesas deserved due to individual girls' flawed characters, i.e., she deserved it.
Through Miller's careful analysis of these engaging, often unsettling stories, Getting Played shows us not only how these young women are victimized, but how, despite vastly inadequate social support and opportunities, they struggle to navigate this dangerous terrain.
Review
Miller's rich, mixed-methods approach gives the reader a more complete view of gendered violence by interviewing both young women and young men. Often, when studying "couples" or violence against women, only the women are interviewed.-Sex Roles,
Review
“Millers analysis is spot-on and sensitive, illuminating the oft overseen effects and workings of privilege . . . she does a great job at showing how large societal forces have very real, individual, and private consequences.”
-Feminist Review,
Review
“In Getting Played, sociologist Jody Miller presents a compelling picture of this dire social problem and explores how inextricably, and tragically, linked violence is to their daily lives in poor urban neighborhoods.”
-QBR,The Black Book Review
Review
“The result of Millers information lode is a sometimes uplifting book. It is possible for government and private-sector programs to alleviate the violence against females, Miller believes—but not if those in charge lack the will and refuse to allocate the resources.”
-St. Louis Post Dispatch,
Synopsis
Bhanu is probably the most famous Sanskrit poet that no one today has ever heard of. His "Bouquet of Rasa" and "River of Rasa," both composed in the early sixteenth century, probably under the patronage of the Nizam of Ahmadnagar in western India, attracted the attention of the most celebrated commentators in early modern India. Some of the greatest painters of Mewar and Basohli vied to turn his subtle poems into pictures. And his verses were prized by poets everywhere: Abu al-Fazl, the preeminent scholar at Akbar's court, translated them into Persian, and, Kshetráyya, the great Andhra poet of the next century, adapted them into Telugu. Many writers have described the types of heroines and heroes of Sanskrit literature (the subject of the "Bouquet of Rasa") or explained the nature of aesthetic emotion (that of the "River of Rasa"), but none did so in verse of such exquisite and subtle artistry.
About the Author
Sheldon I. Pollock is the William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Studies and Chairman of the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University. He is the author of The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India and editor of Cosmopolitanism and Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia.