Both a convincing discussion and a call to reformative action for LGBT equality across economic sectors of the world.
A treatise on how restricting LGBT rights negatively impacts global economies.
In the latest entry in the publisher’s Queer Action/Queer Ideas series, economics professor Badgett presents a persuasive case for LGBT rights within financial arenas and how those promote broader liberties. Drawing from a wealth of research studies, the author scrutinizes the tangible losses from unfair discriminatory practices. Her argument centers around the conviction that LGBT inclusion and unilateral equality are critical to the long-term prosperity of businesses and the economy. While LGBT discrimination erodes community morale incrementally over time, the same is true “from an economic perspective”—eventually, “it adds up.” Examining education, employment, and health care, for example, Badgett clearly outlines the tremendous humanitarian benefits of workplace equality, anti-bullying school regulations, and other initiatives that pave the way to greater economic growth, improved employee retention and productivity, diversified workforces, and a healthier populace. She describes how these ideas are already gaining momentum around the world, with global brands proudly aligning with their LGBT employees with respect to fairness practices and tolerance regulations. The author is at her analytical best in her discussions of the toll inequality takes on commerce. She shows how exclusionary practices rob businesses of vital personnel and damage reputations, citing World Bank studies, interviews, and personal anecdotes from local sources alongside countries like Canada, India, South Africa, and the Philippines. In the final chapter, Badgett offers logical action items for business leaders and prospective activists as well as for readers already involved in social reform advocacy. Though the opinions and language of economists and human rights advocates may differ, the base-line goals are inclusion and equality for the LGBT community. The author’s concise, sound arguments demonstrate why it is necessary to “expand freedom and equality” across the globe.
Both a convincing discussion and a call to reformative action for LGBT equality across economic sectors of the world.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8070-3560-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A skillful and succinct examination of Shakespeare’s relationship with Henry Wriothesley.
Medina delves into the life of William Shakespeare to investigate his love affair with the Earl of Southampton.
The author, a political and policy advisor and former deputy chief of staff for Michelle Obama, introduces his concise biography of Shakespeare by citing the subject that interests him most, which other biographers, per Medina, have either neglected or outright denied: the Bard’s relationship with a young aristocrat, which is prominently referenced in his sonnets and several other works. “Why ignore Shakespeare’s greatest love?” Medina asks. At the time he met Shakespeare, Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, was only 17, but he already held impressive degrees and social status. The author analyzes Shakespeare’s sonnets, finding evidence of their passion against a social backdrop in which homosexuality was illegal but strong same-sex bonds were nevertheless encouraged. Medina traces their story through revealing moments in Shakespeare’s works, notably “The Rape of Lucrece” and The Merchant of Venice, while also giving careful consideration to Shakespeare’s rising financial and social status thanks to the Earl’s patronage and despite attitudes about the hedonism of the theatre scene. Political aspects also come under scrutiny with the end of the Elizabethan era and the arrival of King James (leading the author to reveal some of the more salacious court gossip he has uncovered). In his conclusion, Medina levels a thoughtful critique of literary editors and critics who, in the author’s view, have tried to erase Shakespeare’s romantic love for Wriothesley. Throughout, Medina is quick to dismiss traditional, heteronormative interpretations of Shakespeare’s work. His succinct, blanket statements about characters being “undeniably gay” or previous cultural assertions being simply “false” can come off as defensive rather than logical conclusions flowing from his research, but the sheer amount of material Medina has amassed and efficiently summarized may win readers over to his point of view in the end. Despite being a slim volume, his biography is overflowing with well-observed anecdotes and deft descriptions that paint a full portrait of the ways in which theater, homosexuality, and Shakespeare himself fit into the society of the time.
A skillful and succinct examination of Shakespeare’s relationship with Henry Wriothesley.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781633311060
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Disruption Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A provocative and original examination of the flaws in mental health treatment.
Fay's incisive, wide-ranging debut explores her decadeslong immersion in the mental health system.
Beginning when she was a teenager, Fay was diagnosed with six different mental illnesses, sometimes one by one, sometimes in combination, and often based on the skimpiest of evidence. Therapists and physicians concluded that she was suffering from anorexia, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, ADHD, OCD, and bipolar disorder. They prescribed medications accordingly, and Fay dutifully swallowed both the diagnoses and the pills—and then found it nearly impossible to extricate herself from either. The narrative, justifiably soaked with anger but also darkly funny at points, does not follow the course of the usual mental health memoir, in which the subject finally receives and responds to the “correct” analysis of her problems and lives happily-ever-after. Instead, Fay, still troubled, still medicated, stepped out of the loop of therapy and began to refute its basic tenets. The author boldly combines three strands: an account of her trip down the rabbit hole of the mental health system, where she tried valiantly to persuade herself to accept diagnoses that didn’t seem to correspond to her actual life; a dynamic critique of the various incarnations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which serves as a guidebook for many clinicians; and, unexpectedly but beguilingly, analyses of the ways punctuation can reveal and structure thought. While criticism of the DSM is not new, Fay's position as an insider suffering from the results of its application as a method of analysis gives her a unique perspective. Sharply personal and impeccably detailed, the book is bound to raise questions in the minds of readers diagnosed with any number of disorders about the validity of trying to cram individual experience into what Fay contends are essentially imaginary categories.
A provocative and original examination of the flaws in mental health treatment.Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-306868-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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