Slaying the Mermaid: Women and the Culture of Sacrifice, by Stephanie Golden
Originally published by Harmony Books, 1998. Now available as an ebook (see links below).
Why do so many women feel obliged to put other people's needs first—even when they don’t want to? Slaying the Mermaid explains why the self-
“Slaying the Mermaid is in effect an active, thinking women's guide to mental health and right living.... Golden is particularly effective in exploring the many ways contemporary women are drawn into self-
“It will grab you by the short collar and pull you into its pages, which are overflowing with stories guaranteed to promote a transformation in any woman who feels remotely as if she has sacrificed too much of herself for other people.” —Common Boundary
Order from:
Smashwords (several platforms)
Order a personalized, signed paperback or hardcover copy from Stephanie.
The Women Outside: Meanings and Myths of Homelessness, by Stephanie Golden
University of California Press, 1992.
"Part report, part analysis, part meditation, The Women Outside combines detailed first-hand experience with far-ranging scholarship to explore the origins, social meanings, and scandalous circumstances of homeless women today. This is a psychologically probing and deeply compassionate work." —Alix Kates Shulman, author of On the Stroll
"The scholarship s extraordinary, the writing lucid, and Golden has a wonderful capacity to involve the reader in the experiences of homelesswomen she re-creates for us." —Alice Kessler-Harris, author of Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States
Finalist, Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, 1992.
Honorable Mention, Emily Toth Award (Women's Caucus, Popular Culture
Association, American Culture Association), 1992.
Available in online used book stores, or order a personalized, signed new copy by emailing me: stephanie (at) stephaniegolden dot net.
Anesthesia Without Fear: The Informed Consumer's Guide to Safe Surgery and Chronic Pain Relief, by James E. Cottrell, MD, with Stephanie Golden
Good Outcomes Press, 2022
What happens when you go under the anesthesiologist’s mask? What are the risks of anesthesia, and how can you avoid them? What does an anesthesiologist do anyway, and how do they make sure you wake again after the surgery?
In Anesthesia without Fear: The Informed Consumer’s Guide to Safe Surgery and Chronic Pain Relief, one of the country’s leading anesthesiologists reveals what happens in the operating room, what these crucial doctors do to ensure your return to consciousness—and what patients you can do to advocate for yourself or a loved one.
“Reading this book is like hearing his wise, kind voice in conversation… A must for anyone about to undergo surgery or for any future anesthesiologist.” —Todd C. Sacktor, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Physiology & Pharmacology, Anesthesiology, and Neurology
The Foot Fix: 4 Weeks to Healthier, Happier Feet, by Yamuna Zake with Stephanie Golden
Watkins Publishing, 2021
Our feet are fundamental to our overall health, but years of shoe wearing mean that most of us don’t use our feet the way we should. This book show how you can fix your your feet yourself – without any need for doctors, orthotics or surgery! You don’t even need to give up wearing high heels. All you have to do is follow the Foot Fix program to learn how to walk and stand correctly and use every part of your feet as nature intended.
The 4-week program offers easy routines that take just 15 minutes a day. Each week focuses on a different part of the foot: the heel, the arch, the ball and the toes. Once completed, you can maintain good foot health with mindful practices to check in on how you’re walking and standing through the day and ensure bad habits don't return.
There are also solutions for six common foot problems, including bunions and flat feet, You learn which specific walking patterns and types of shoes cause them and simple exercises to relieve and prevent them.
Mermaid No More: Breaking Women's Culture of Sacrifice
How many men would eat food they don't like because their wife likes it? Or wear clothes they don't like because she wants them to look a certain way? Women do these things all the time. I did them with my former husband.
Worse, women give up what we really want in life, getting so enmeshed in taking care of others that we don't care for ourselves.
These are all forms of sacrifice—self-sacrifice, to be specific: of our own needs, desires, literally of our selves.
But—you may ask—isn’t self-sacrifice good and noble? And isn’t it inherent in women’s nature to be givers and caretakers?
My answers: Sometimes... but also NO. Certainly sacrifice can arise from open-hearted, selfless generosity. But the impulse toward excessive self‑sacrifice comes from women's history, not their nature.
This 7,000-word ebook is an update of Slaying the Mermaid: Women and the Culture of Sacrifice, my original investigation of women and self-sacrifice. That book uses Andersen's Little Mermaid as a symbol of the ultimate self-sacrificing woman. It takes a broad approach. But since our historical training in self-sacrifice still undermines us, I wanted to write something more practically focused on everyday life.
Mermaid No More will help you figure out whether you’re sacrificing more than is good for you (and for everyone around you). It will help you stop doing so. And it will explain how to tell when making a sacrifice is the right thing to do.
This ebook offers pragmatic, specific strategies for figuring out whether you too are a "modern mermaid" and for overcoming your own personal pull toward unhealthy self-sacrifice. You’ll learn:
♦ How Western culture made women into self-sacrificers
♦ What self-sacrifice looks like among modern mermaids
♦ How to tell if you’re making unhealthy sacrifices
♦ How to stop
♦ How to tell when a sacrifice is good—for you and for the people you make it for
The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout: The Revolutionary Way to Tone, Lengthen, and Realign Your Body, by Yamuna Zake and Stephanie Golden
Broadway Books, 2004
Yamuna® Body Rolling is a workout, massage, and chiropractic treatment all in one. “Zake and her able co-
The Permanent Pain Cure: The Breakthrough Way to Heal Your Muscle and Joint Pain for Good, by Ming Chew, PT, with Stephanie Golden
McGraw-Hill, 2008
A complete, drug-
“I’m a personal trainer, RN, Medical Exercise Specialist, and yoga teacher who has offered Ming’s solutions for my clients’ spinal problems, with amazing results! One client's pinched shoulder nerve healed in two weeks—and her posture vastly improved from working previously unused muscles... I recommend this book to all personal trainers and yoga teachers.” —Deborah Caruana, RN
Surviving the Unsurvivable: Natural Therapies for Cancer—A Revolutionary Integrative Approach, by Pavel I. Yutsis, M.D., with Stephanie Golden
Basic Health Communications, 2012
Groundbreaking concept of the ten “cancer connections”—cancer-
Under the Mask: A Guide to Feeling Secure and Comfortable During Anesthesia and Surgery, by James E. Cottrell, M.D., with Stephanie Golden
Rutgers University Press, 2001
This handbook demystifies the role of anesthesia during surgery and diagnostic procedures, empowering consumers to make informed decisions regarding surgical anesthesia and postoperative pain control and to get the care they need.
“I strongly recommend this highly readable, plainly spoken book to anyone about to go under the knife.” —Geraldo Rivera
"A clear, compelling, and essential guide to the most critical aspect of surgery. Don't even dream of going to the hospital without this book.” —Robert Lipsyte, New York Times columnist, author of In the Country of Illness
Body Rolling: An Experiential Approach to Complete Muscle Release, by Yamuna Zake and Stephanie Golden
Healing Arts Press, 1997
Body Rolling is a revolutionary method that teaches bodywork practitioners and their clients how to feel the inner logic of the muscular system. Each body has its own logic, which is at the heart of Body Rolling, a technique that uses a ten-inch ball to stretch muscles, freeing restrictions in the body, increasing blood flow,
This book is a detailed manual for professional body therapists.
Legacy Works: Transforming Memory into Visual Art, A Program for Older Adults, by Stephanie Golden with Susan Perlstein.
Illustrated program manual written and produced for Elders Share the Arts, a community arts organization in Brooklyn, NY.
Compulsive Behavior, by Stephanie Golden (writing as Richard Sebastian)
For teenagers, a guide to obsessive-