Viva la Feminista

From the defunct Babes and Books blog where a bunch of friends challenged each other to read twenty books in one summer: This was yet again, another good book that doubled as a memoir. I think we need to create a new genre of non-fiction/memoir for books like this. Courtney E. Martin uses her own experiences and observations as the base for discussing body image & eating disorders in our country today. She also weaves in a discussion on today’s feminist movement & sexuality. One thing that I noticed is that Martin & Siegel credit and cite the Woodhull Institute for not only supporting their writing, but also as an example of how feminism should work. You know, good supportive intergenerational mentoring, good supportive writers, and all the happy happy joy joy stuff we all dream about. Hmmm…and I know that my mouth often gets me in trouble, but I have to wonder how wonderful this institute really is and how fabu these women (mentors not Martin & Siegel...

Reposted from my old blog Flashcards and drills are not a part of our parenting style. As two fairly intelligent people, we assume that our daughter will inherit our smarts. As she grew from baby into her 4-year-old self, it is clear that she's whip smart. No flashcards please! As a child who has always loved books and being read to, we don't want drills to damper that spirit. Bob Books fulfill both those two requirements AND teach her how to read. These cute and super short books introduce children to letter sounds with ease and repetition. We've only gotten thru the first 4 books (12 total) but the kid loves them. After about 4 go throughs she could read on her own. Admittedly she merely memorized the story, but with careful prompts and encouragement she did learn the words. Less than a dozen times thru & I can honestly say she is reading. She's a pretty silly child who can't sit still, but the books held her for the 5 minutes it takes to re...

From the defunct Babes and Books blog where a bunch of friends challenged each other to read twenty books in one summer: I’m sitting in my favorite chair writing this while [my daughter] is in her favorite chair, wearing her robe, and playing on her laptop. The idea that one day I may have to pray that she wakes up and regains full use of her body is unthinkable. But that is just what Joan Didion has to do. That she has to do it before and after her husband drops dead at dinner is quite preposterous. I mean, come on…what else can happen? But it’s all true and Didion walks us thru her mind and heart with little fanfare. I liked this book for its honesty. Losing someone so close to you is hard and in the world we live in, people don’t want to hear the hard icky truth.  The English social anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer, in his 1965 Death, Grief, and Mourning , had described this rejection of public mourning as a result of the increasing pressure of a new “et...

From the defunct Babes and Books blog where a bunch of friends challenged each other to read twenty books in one summer: Ana Castillo is one of the funniest writers I have ever read. The ironic thing is that she writes some of the most heart-wrenching stories ever. This is my second Castillo novel this summer. I didn’t plan it out that way, it just happened. The novel tells the tale of a polio-stricken woman who dances Flamenco, falls in love with two men, and then has to deal with life when polio makes it almost impossible for her to dance anymore. Oh and it’s set in Chicago. Carmen also has to deal with being the only daughter in her pretty typical working-class Mexican family. Castillo’s ability to describe the truth in life is spot on: You put on your cross-trainers assembled in a foreign land by women and children at slave-wages so you try not think of what you paid for them, and begin to talk the streets of your city at sunset. We couldn’t so much as stand on th...

Reposted from my old blog: FRIDAY::: 9:30 AM - WOOHOO! I made it! I'm all registered & now working the reg area. "My name is Roni, how may I help you?" 12 PM - Gov Granholm: She is kickass & beautiful. I'm now uberjealous of MI-ites. I'll trade ya Guvs! If only she was born in the states. *sigh* SATURDAY::: 11:45 AM - Chenese Lewis She's a plus-size model who feels each photo shot is a statement. Once @ a 'Insider' segment her & other plus-size women actors were weighed(!) on camera. The scales were RIGGED to add 30 lbs. She wasn't too fazed but the other actors were devistated. She works a non-NOW affiliated 'Love Your Body' project. OMG, I love this woman. 11:00 - Sherry Stringfield Did you know that Sherri AND both her kids (6 & 3) are lifetime members of NOW? She was introduced to NOW when the actor playing her mom on a soap opera took her to a NYC NOW meeting. Sherry also spoke about being a femini...

From the defunct Babes and Books blog where a bunch of friends challenged each other to read twenty books in one summer: I finished Sisterhood Interrupted Friday morning and Borderlands last night before I went to sleep. Both thumbs up books. Sisterhood Interrupted was way better than I thought it would be. As someone who has 2 minor degrees in women’s studies, I’ve read a lot of feminist history, especially second wave history. That’s also due to my obsession with the 60s and early 70s. I really didn’t think I’d learn too much new in it and while the book is NOT a history book, I did learn some new tidbits. Seigel does an excellent job at framing the intragenerational fighting during the second wave (Betty Friedan-ists vs. radical feminists) and the third wave (post-feminists vs. third wavers) AND the intergenerational fighting between second and third wavers. I went way into this with Cinnamon and wish I had recorded it because now I know I can’t do it justice again, ...

Reposed from my old blog: OK, maybe not a full wrap up as the weekend flew by in a blinding flash. Instead, highlights: * Meeting Jessica from Feministing with the always "WTF" question: "Can I take a picture of you with my Pooh Bear?" She asked if I would send her the photo and I said, "It'll be on Flickr." Yes, I'm a smart ass. * As I walked away, Amanda from Pandagon said to Jessica, "See her bag!?" Jessica said, "Oh, the woman who made that is one of the Hot 100." And I got to retort, "Yup, she's my best friend." Yes, I gloat as well. * Meeting Ani and again, asking the "WTF" question. I guess because I'm not as big of a fan of Ani as I am of Dar, I neglected to ask her for a beer. 20 minutes later, I learned that she would had said no for a whole different reason that 'who the fuck are you?' Waking up at 3:30 am to take cab to Midway = $50, Flight to Albany = $200, hearing Ani DiFranco an...

reposted from my old blog I have to admit that I've never read Daily Kos. I usually shy away from the A-listers as a habit. It's kinda like shunning the cheerleaders & the real nerds in high school. I went to a weird high school where the A-listers were either cheerleaders or the National Merit folks. I was neither. Anywho, so I got word that Daily Kos was in town and headed out to check out the new savior of the Progressive movement. You can identify the saviors by the book tours they travel on. I also wanted to ask him "THE QUESTION" in person. Yup, I did. First, Kos started in on why he wrote his book, why he has his blog, why we need a new way of looking at politics, and of course, a new way to organize and elect Democrats to office. Again, I've never really read his site, but I heard about his dismissal of feminists and abortion rights as a key issue over the summer. As Kos says , "Why do groups like NARAL and HRC have a hard time gr...

Maybe I won't have a ton of time to go on and on about the conference, but here are some highlights: * The main reason to be in Nashville was to vote on senior leadership. The Kim Gandy's (i) slate vs. Rosemary Dempsey's slate. Both are great speakers and honestly if either of them won, I wouldn't worry too much about either kicking ass. Kim Gandy & her slate did win thou. * Rosemary and her slate did congratulate Kim & her slate on Sunday morning during a resolution hearing. * I met a ton of fab women including another Veronica from Chicago. I totally freaked her out when I found her since I guess I was kinda stalking her for 24 hours. But now we're buddies. She also said that she's always felt a psychic connection with Frida and then we debated if Frida was just a representation for me. We're both totally into the whole "we're here, meeting for a reason" train of thought. * I got to see Ellie Smeal, Patricia Ireland, Carol Moseley Bra...

From my old blog...on honor of the 10th anniversary of the March. Well if Ella had cooperated, I would have partaken in what I'm sure most of my feminist sisters are doing this morning. So, ready for the low-down? Fasten your seat belts, grab a mocha, and let's dive right in. Saturday Cinnamon & I hit Chicago Midway with a vengence. We used the new express check-in at Southwest and headed right to our gate. There we found a few other women on their way to DC for the March, another girfriend of mine was also on our flight with her husband and twin 2-year-old daughters. The twins were FAB on the flight. And they were cute to boot. After a very funny flight into BWI we went in search for Rachel. I've never seen a picture of her & I suddenly realized I didn't have her phone number! I knew I had given her mine, but where was she? I should have trusted my gut cause she was the cute girl in the sandels. The three of us chatted it up like old friends a...