Bare Your Soul: The Thinking Girl's Guide to Enlightenment (Live Girls) [Paperback]

Angela Watrous (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2002 | Series: Live Girls

Whether raised within a specific belief system or warned against all things religious, young women today have been left with questions that dating guides and pop feminist theory cannot answer. This collection answers the call—a handbook for the soul that offers the wisdom and validation of how a variety of women negotiate an empowering spiritual existence in a pop-culture world. In Bare Your Soul, women of all backgrounds and traditions share how investigating questions of spirituality affects their lives and their identities. It is a provocative look at the ways in which young women of today both celebrate and repudiate religion—and, ultimately, find answers that fit. One woman shares her practice as a Shiite Muslim and how it intersects and collides with her personal relationships. A woman raised within the Black Baptist community finally finds a spiritual connection with the Unitarian Church—then struggles to balance spiritual fulfillment with her desire to see other Black faces in her place of worship. A young mother speaks to the challenges brought on when play dates bring together her family’s religion—feminist Goddess-worship—and that of her children’s fundamentalist Christian friends. A Western feminist who has converted to Buddhism attempts to reconcile her gender identity with a philosophy that renders gender irrelevant, and one woman argues that the Church of Consumerism is all she needs. A compelling, much-needed anthology, this collection offers balanced, insiders’ information on a wide spectrum of traditions and practices, allowing readers to make informed, intelligent spiritual choices for themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Editor Watrous has assembled a beguiling collection by young women of various lifestyles and religious persuasions: a Shi'a Muslim, a bisexual lesbian, an African American raised Baptist who finds spirituality in the Unitarian church, a feminist convert to Buddhism, and a spiritual nonconformist who questions atheism when her father falls ill--to name a few. The contributors aren't afraid to ask uncomfortable questions, prod the heart, and engage the mind on issues of faith that affect and confront women. As Watrous' brief, smart introduction points out, popular culture offers few outlets for young women to come fully to terms with spirituality. If there are plenty of guides to finding the perfect mate and seeking out the latest nightspots, there are very few that seriously ponder a woman's spirituality. The largely unheralded writers featured in Bare Your Soul take full advantage of the literary opportunity Watrous gives them to rework traditions, rethink assumptions, and offer unique perspectives on the ongoing process of life. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press (November 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158005076X
• ISBN-13: 978-1580050760
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,002,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspirational selection of thought-provoking testimonials, February 13, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bare Your Soul: The Thinking Girl's Guide to Enlightenment (Live Girls) (Paperback)

Compiled and edited by freelance writer Angela Watrous, Bare Your Soul: The Thinking Girl's Guide To Enlightenment is an impressive collection of brief yet moving and insightful essays by various female authors, about their journeys toward religious understanding and the embrace of spirituality. Different tales address the diverse religions that the contributors have chosen to follow, ranging from Islam, to Catholicism, to Judaism, to Zen Buddhism. A moving and inspirational selection of thought-provoking testimonials, Bare Your Soul is thoughtful and thought-provoking.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book is for Every Seeker, March 13, 2003

By 

joanm graff (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bare Your Soul: The Thinking Girl's Guide to Enlightenment (Live Girls) (Paperback)

I could not put this book down! This anthology contains beautiful writing and moving stories that brought me to tears more than once.

For anybody who is on a spiritual path, especially if they're not sure where they'll end up, this book is a must read.