"In early modern English interior design, closets provided royalty with secluded places for reading, writing, and storing valuables, as well as for nurturing the shifting alliances on which the politics of the day depended. Admission to the closet was contingent solely on the owner's approval, and the criteria for admission were necessarily opaque. Later, in the houses of nobility and, increasingly, those of the middle class, private rooms served as prayer closets, curiosity cabinets, dressing rooms, libraries, galleries, and impromptu bedrooms. Merging with the privy and the bath, they were remade as earth closets or water closets and bathing closets. In these new iterations, closets remained important spaces where physical closeness or the exchange of knowledge, or both, could take place. The Closet proposes that the closet's material proliferation had a distinctive relationship to literature. Drawing on work by Samuel Pepys, Jonathan Swift, and Laurence Sterne, among others, the author argues that eighteenth-century writers were curious about closet relations as such-including favoritism, patronage, and voyeurism-and also turned to the closet as a figurative bond between author and audience. Dozens of texts published in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were described by their writers or publishers as closets or cabinets, such as the novella "Miss C----'s Cabinet of Curiosity," containing knowledge that originated in courtly closets, prayer closets, and similar intimate spaces. The closet's longstanding associations with intimacy across social divides made it a touchstone for exploring the attachments made possible by the decline of the court, on one hand, and the proliferation of print, the first mass medium, on the other"--

The first day of school brings continued animosity and intolerance between four fifth-grade students. Jezebel the class bully, Deb the knowledgeable, Soph the wise, and Mari the deceptive are assigned to work together as a team on a class project for the whole day. A sudden act of terror in the school forces the four to seek safety, and in so doing, they face the underlying truths that have defined their lives. As each girl slowly processes that truth, illumination and healing occur, allowing the four to reconcile in growing acceptance and understanding. A masterful blend of fiction and reality makes this a must-read for any age.

Picturing the Closet takes a pioneering approach to visual culture and by so doing builds on Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's Epistemology of the Closet in order to present a compelling new approach to the British experience of queer culture since the eighteenth century.

Arguing that the time of the closet is passing, this engagingly written book traces the transformation of out-status and uncovers the subtle heterosexual attitudes that still separate tolerance from equality.

Examining the intolerance of homosexuality in the early medieval period, this study challenges the long-held belief that the early Middle Ages tolerated same-sex relations. The work focuses on Anglo-Saxon literature but also includes examinations of contemporary opera, dance and theatre.

Before the 1969 Stonewall Riots, LGBTQ life was dominated by the negative image of "the closet"--the metaphorical space where that which was deemed "queer" was hidden from a hostile public view. Literary studies of queer themes and characters in crime fiction have tended to focus on the more positive and explicit representations since the riots, while pre-Stonewall works are thought to reference queer only negatively or obliquely. This collection of new essays questions that view with an investigation of queer aspects in crime fiction published over eight decades, from the corseted Victorian era to the unbuttoned 1960s.

Mother Pauline Gentry is a modern day Deborah, willing to tackle any obstacle with the weapon of prayer. She is a living testimony of how the Lord has worked miracles as she dedicated her life to consecration and prayer. Mother Maxine Billingsley, International President-Young Womens Christian Council-Church Of God In Christ. Mother Pauline Gentry has been proven in prayer. In reading this book your prayer life will soar to new heights; seeing that breaking through barriers, Demonic forces, and pulling down strong holds are possible. This book is a must read. Dr. Lathan Archie Jr., Author of Navigating Through Transition. In the Closet of Prayer is a book written by Evangelist Pauline Gentry, filled with life changing Spiritual revelations and prophesies. It is perhaps one of the best and most authentic books on the market today with a unique compilation of Miraculous testimonies from real people, by name, in real time. These testimonies give a glimpse of the incredible mysteries of God. The author is uniquely gifted to pray, see Spiritual visions and dream dreams of things and events to come. It is a must read, particularly for those seeking healing and deliverance from depression, addictions etc. Rev. Dr. Charlene Hill-Hogan, assistant dean, Howard University

A richly illustrated exploration of fashion and its capacity for generating controversy and constructing social and individual identities Clothing matters. This basic axiom is both common sense and, in another way, radical. It is from this starting point that Michelle Liu Carriger elucidates the interconnected ways in which gender, sexuality, class, and race are created by the everyday act of getting dressed. Theatricality of the Closet: Fashion, Performance, and Subjectivity between Victorian Britain and Meiji Japan examines fashion and clothing controversies of the nineteenth century, drawing on performance theory to reveal how the apparently superficial or frivolous deeply affects the creation of identity. By interrogating a set of seemingly disparate examples from the same period but widely distant settings—Victorian Britain and Meiji-era Japan—Carriger disentangles how small, local, ordinary practices became enmeshed in a global fabric of cultural and material surfaces following the opening of trade between these nations in 1850. This richly illustrated book presents an array of media, from conservative newspapers and tabloids to ukiyo-e and early photography, that locate dress as a site where the individual and the social are interwoven, whether in the 1860s and 1870s or the twenty-first century.

The closet takes its toll on its dwellers through their experiences of isolation, fear, paranoia, potentially increased internalized homophobia, and dissonance between role and identity; yet many people in the helping professions do not feel that it is desirable or even appropriate to disclose their sexual orientation to those receiving help. Gay and Lesbian Professionals in the Closet explores the different positions people take on this provocative issue, the arguments they use to support their positions, and why the issue may not be as clear-cut as it sometimes seems.While complex sociopsychological factors, cultural values and influences, and legal issues keep many gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in the closet, closeted practice may have its advantages. A closeted practitioner, whether case manager, counselor, psychotherapist, physician, or minister, can bring understanding and insight to practice with homosexual clients and their families, as well as lend substantial support to openly gay and lesbian helping professionals. Yet, as Gay and Lesbian Professionals in the Closet reveals, being closeted can compromise your integrity, as well as that of your clients, and the benefits of being out will likely outweigh those of being closeted. Being out will help readers: counteract stereotypes of gays and lesbians allow you to serve as a role model improve the quality of care offered by traditionally homophobic, or homo-ignorant, institutions and employees contribute to the establishment of affirming services and environments for both yourself and your clients stop segregating your sexual life from the rest of your life attain credibility with your clients not feed repression through silenceAs Gay and Lesbian Professionals in the Closet will show readers, it is always important to consider patients’needs and each work setting before coming out, but gay, lesbian, and bisexual social service providers should make decisions on a case-by-case basis, not avoid being out altogether. Being open in the workplace will remind caregivers, clients, and coworkers of the exemplary citizenship and service gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are capable of offering. Think again whether the closet carries protective cover from discrimination or tacit endorsement of homophobia.

Authoring this book of meditations has proven to be a great challenge for Elizabeth and myself because many of the stories and poems bring up painful events. The irony is that when we look at our present lives, we recognize God's provisions through good and bad times. Hopefully, you have had the same experience as you reflect/ look back on difficulties and challenges in your life. We know God does bring beauty, joy, and praise out of seemingly bad circumstances. Jesus knew sorrow. His earthly family knew aching sadness. He understands. In this collection of meditative stories and poems, we explore life's "ashes" with a focus on how the Lord weaves them into a tapestry of beauty. Let us remember that this world is not our home, and we will not understand it all now. However, in our true home, all will be well. May you enjoy Ashes in the Closet, written from our hearts.