Women's Issues

Historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg links the eating disorder to Victorian standards of femininity and contemporary ideas of health and beauty. Her findings suggest that increased social mobility put women and girls at greater risk for the disease.

Kay Mills, herself a journalist, found several magazine articles about the progress of women in the news business -- but no book-length study. She has since filled that gap with her book A Place in the News.

The African American writer is known for his experimental style, but in Such Was the Season, Major uses a straightforward narrative to tell the story about an older black woman in Atlanta and her doctor nephew. Guest critic Stuart Klawans says any bookstore that doesn't carry it needs to "wise up."

The groundbreaking psychoanalyst didn't trust future biographers, even going so far as to destroy some of his personal papers. Nonetheless, historian Peter Gay has found enough material to write his second book on Freud. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about Freud's personal life, theories, and views on female sexuality,

Actor John Lithgow. He's currently starring in the Broadway play "M Butterfly." His film roles include "Terms of Endearment" and "The World According to Garp."

Playboy and Village Voice columnist Cynthia Heimel. Heimel brings her sassy wit to the plight of the single woman of the 80s, beset with such traumas as tackling urban life and surviving the Great Boyfriend Crunch. Her books include Sex Tips for Girls and But Enough About You. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek, authors of the book Mothers of Invention, a compilation of inventions by women. Some have been rather mundane, like Liquid Paper and drip coffee. But others include radium, the computer language COBOL and the first computer compiler. The authors are better known for their writing about rock and roll. (Interview by Faith Middleton)

Susie Orbach and Luise Eichenbaum discuss their new book Between Women: Love, Envy and Competition in Women's Friendships. Ohrbach and Eichenbaum are psychotherapists and best friends.

Fresh Air's Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone, whose writing on contemporary culture appears regularly in The Village Voice.

Betty White, longtime television actress. She currently stars in the NBC series "The Golden Girls."

Mamie Van Doren, one of Hollywood's blond bombshells in the fifties and sixties. She starred in the cult classics "Untamed Youth," "High School Confidential," and "Born Reckless." She's written a kiss-and-tell memoir called Playing the Field.

Jehan Sadat, wife of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Humorist Alice Kahn considers the scientific and cultural debate over the existence of G-spot, and the affect it's had on women's sexuality.

Still in her thirties, novelist Erica Jong celebrates women in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Her books feature realistic women characters who are given the chance to embrace their bodies and enjoy sex without fear of repercussions. Her newest is called Serenissima.

Gloria Steinem returns to Fresh Air to discuss the history and workplace culture of the feminist magazine she cofounded, as well as the state of the women's movement today.

Sydney Biddle Barrows' call girl service was shut down in 1984. She now has a memoir about her life as a madam. Barrows joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about how she recruited and managed the young women who worked for her.

Feminist writer Gloria Steinem has a new book about actress Marilyn Monroe. Steinem was initially disgusted by Monroe's portrayal of some onscreen. Now she has a more sympathetic view toward the late actress's talent and vulnerability.

Independent filmmaker Spike Lee's first feature, She's Gotta Have It, has garnered critical adulation and popular success. He joins Fresh Air to discuss his experiences as a black director, having an all-black cast, and making a movie that deals frankly with women's sexual desires.

Novelist Rita Mae Brown is known for her lesbian and "Southern" fiction. She joins the show to discuss her family and growing up in the South. Brown's latest novel is "High Hearts."

Armistead Maupin developed a series of novels based on his serialized fiction published in the San Francisco-based Pacific Sun newspaper. His work is notable for featuring sympathetic and realistic portrayals of women and gay men.