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The paradox of crediting everyone while taking sole responsibility for the outcome is never more acute than for a researcher and writer. I must begin by acknowledging that there would be no book if already too-busy activists had not offered their time to a complete stranger. I am stunned by the generosity and good humor of more than seventy activists, from Kutztown, Pennsylvania, to Stockholm, Sweden. Many of these amazing people not only shared their lives but also swung the gate wide open so I could connect with others. Special thanks go to Yonah EtShalom, Kate Zaidan, Andrea Mickus (all of the Student Environmental Action Coalition [SEAC]), ALisa Starkweather, Chella Quint, adee, Miranda Resnick, Rina from Macalester, Anna Yang of the Red Web Foundation, Sissy Sparkle, Kami McBride, Breeze Harper, Emily Biting, Erin Wilkins, Karolina Bång, Miki Walsh, Brackin “Firecracker” Camp, Kristin Garvin, and Giovanna Chesler for going way above and beyond. I warmly thank Madeleine Shaw of Lunapads, who volunteered to organize a contest to find the cover image. And because of Madeleine, I was privileged to consider the work of many talented and inspired artists who offered up their innovative work as possibilities. Ultimately, Helena González Sáez’s image spoke to me most and I feel privileged that it graces the cover. Jane Bobel of Jane Bobel Graphic Design (and not so incidentally, my big sister) is entirely responsible for the preparation of all interior images. Through this process, she endured an endless flow of my confused and conflicted e-mails. I, no doubt, abused any implicit familial contract of support. Natalie Wysong served as a nurturing midwife to this manuscript’s first full draft; Dori Gilbert and Perri Weinberg-Schenker both arrived right before this “baby” was born, smoothing out the citations and endnotes. And finally, Bobbe Needham—consummate and patient copyeditor—sent her out into the world. xv Acknowledgments My writing group, populated by the savviest group of feminist intellectuals this side of anywhere, deserves my deepest thanks: Sarah Sobieraj (who held my shaking hand more than once), Frinde Maher (who helped me see Platform 9 3/4) Anna Sandoval Girón, Susan Ostrander, Julie Nelson (who conjured the book’s title), Jyoti Puri, and JoAnne Preston. Hedda Hartl came all the way from Germany on multiple occasions to feed our family, wash our clothes, and care for our baby so I could work. Without her selfless nurturance offered up quietly and steadily, I’d still be merely writing a book proposal. “I miss you” is an understatement. While all my students school me regularly, my research assistants deserve special mention. Coral Waters, Ginn Norris, Jenna McGlynn, Natalia Cooper, Jessie Baird (look for her in chapter 7), Bonnie Gerepka, and Sarah Okolita each poked into the dark holes in the conceptual framework and helped me produce a fuller, richer, and more complex argument. Sarah’s intrepid archival sleuthing in particular was fundamental to chapter 3. I thank my mentor and guardian angel Jean Humez whose inspired pencil helped me produce clearer focus and punchier critique. Meredith Evans’s expertise regarding third-wave feminism sharpened my own thinking; chapter 1 is largely indebted to her. My appreciation goes to Thomas Hartl, who extracted the data on the contemporary FemCare industry. I also thank my colleagues at UMass Boston who make that other part of my professional life—teaching and service—endlessly meaningful and pleasurable. Andrea Scarpino, Kevin Allred, Gayle Sulik, Doreen Drury, Ann Blum, and Jan Thomas said yes when I asked, and their handprints are all over the good parts. Liz Kissling’s careful reading of the first full draft triggered the growth spurt I needed at a crucial crossroads. My early writing group, comprised of Marianne McPherson, Katrina Zippel, Katja Guenther, Sheryl Medlinger, Rachel Powers, and Katie Fraser, were there when menstrual activism was little more than white noise. Phyllis Mansfield and Peggy Stubbs gave me substantive feedback and publishing venues that pushed my work out there and bolstered my confidence to ask better and clearer questions. Through the wonders of Skype, I leaned on Jessica Fields, Sarah Sobeiraj, and Tina Fetner—scholars who pull back the curtain on productivity and demonstrate that writing needn’t be tortured but admit that it often is. Members of Sociologists for Women in Society and of the Society for Menstrual Cycle too numerous to name protected me from the chill of scholarly isolation (hard to find a research area more...

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