Viva la Feminista

I was invited to participate in Evanston's Writer's Resist event on January 15th and this is an edited version of what I read. I'm still new to the live lit scene, but will occasionally post what I read. Sometimes things are best left at the event. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has been shorthand for the collective backlash to women’s progress, especially in regards to reproductive autonomy for quite some time. Safe to say most know the plot without having had read the book. A tale of a post-democratic former-USA taken over by an ultra conservative Christian theocracy where fertile white women are forced to reproduce for the “worthy” ruling class. A few weeks ago I was struck by the faint memory that the book does not conclude in escape or the reestablishment of democracy, rather it ends with an academic talk pondering the veracity of the story we had just consumed. This fact hit me in the gut as I have been considering how we will document the resistance...

WHEW! It's been quite a few weeks for me. Let this gif speak for me: An essay on #365FeministSelfie and domestic violence was published at the Daily Dot.   The Love Her, Love Her Not reading at Women and Children First was a smashing success. At least from my POV as we had a full room, great conversation and I looked out to many friendly faces.  Before our great reading, Joanne Bamberger (our fearless leader & editor!) & I made an appearance on WGN-TV Midday News . Not only was I proud to represent the book on my hometown TV station, but I geeked out at all the Bozo memorabilia that was in the studio. AND..AND....Steve Sanders was super into the book. A few weeks earlier, I was also part of a Love Her, Love Her Not reading in Bethesda that was covered by CSPAN Book TV . A totally different crowd, but still a great conversation.  Truthout commissioned an analysis of the sexism that has been a major part of the 2016 campaign on the GOP side. ...

It is finally real. The anthology, Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox , is officially published! When Joanne Bamberger invited me to submit an essay to the anthology I was still smarting from leaving a doctoral program. But I dove in and edited an essay that I had written for The Broad Side . While I resemble many other writers in dreading the revision process, it was quite healing to have something to focus my brain on. And the theme of the anthology certainly summarizes my feelings about Hillary. She is complicated and tests my progressive feminist ethics. But I know there won't ever be a perfect candidate. I try to weight her flaws with her strengths. I hope that you will pick up this anthology and read all of our hemming and hawing over Hillary. I am proud to share space with these fabulous thinkers: KJ Dell'Antonia, The New York Times Amy Ferris, Marrying George Clooney Nancy Giles, CBS Sunday Morning Froma Harrop, Creators Syndicate Sally Kohn, CNN ...

As you know I was considering joining in on NaNoWriMo, alas I didn't have time to really map out a novel and just as I was about to toss in the towel, Blogher reminded me of NaBloPoMo! Instead of working towards writing a novel, I shall reacquaint myself with my love of blogging. Since it is November 1st, it is also the first day of the Pagan year. An appropriate day for me to restart this blog as more than just reviews and my experiment with sponsored posts. Although I do hope to fill this month by finally posting some of the reviews I've been meaning to write the past few months. It is also Dia de los Muertos and I've been spending my free time today looking for my grandparents on Ancestry.com. So far I've only been able to find my maternal grandmother, her parents and siblings. I don't know if I needed to sign up for the free 14-day trial in order to get some better hits. I'd love to hear from others who have used Ancestry to find more about their famil...

NaNoWriMo is upon us once again and the deadline to write 50,000 doesn’t seem any less of a challenge. This is especially so for moms who may have to juggle jobs with children. How can we stick to the schedule of writing 1667 words each day for 31 consecutive days, while remaining creative?  The only reason I am seriously considering it this year is that Ella will be participating through school. The whole 7th grade is participating! If I'm gonna be bugging her about her 1667 words a day, why not join her? But how? The Internet is full of advice about how to undertake NaNoWriMo successfully. But no one yet has asked the writers who do it each year for their best strategies and tips for staying committed to the very end. Until now, that is. Fortunately, Stop Procrastinating , the productivity website, has surveyed 2000 NaNoWriMo writers ahead of this year’s challenge to find out what kept them going until the very end. There’s no doubt that...

One of the questions I get asked most frequently from students or aspiring writers (which I still consider myself) is what was my plan. The only plan I've ever had after undergrad was to work on feminist issues and find a way to get my voice heard. Yes, once back in the early days of the internet, when newspapers still flourished (or appeared to be) I dreamed of having a newspaper column. Nowadays I have this blog, a few others where I am welcomed, but also op-eds. Op-ed writing is a science and an art. Which of course means someone needs to teach you the tricks. Lucky for us Chicagoans, The Op-Ed Project has settled in Chicago for long term. The next training session is coming up and if your dream is to have someone hear your voice, then you must go. I plan on stopping by the end of the seminar and sticking around for the cocktail hour (For me that means a beer & snacks).  I hope to see you there! DETAILS DATE:: April 6, 2013 (Saturday) TIME:: Seminar: 10 AM – 5 PM ...

As one can tell by the radio silence on this blog, the fall semester has begun. I started blogging as a way to get all the thoughts in my head out into the universe. Now that I'm back in class, the kid's in school ( well, not right now , but soon I hope!), soccer season has begun (we won the first game 6-0, second game 5-0) and a zillion other things, not to mention work, I just don't have the time to always get here to let the words out. It doesn't mean I don't have them. I swear I'm thinking up blog posts all day long. Eleven years of this and you start to think in blog posts. I wonder if columnists do the same thing? I just don't have the time to sit down and write the way I want. Summer was quite productive for my writing though. I did find time to write up a short piece for the Bitch List on Derby Lite . It's in the current issue, Elemental . I also reviewed Jessica Valenti 's book, Why Have Kids? , for Ms. Magazine and that issue should b...

Back when I thought that I would be going to Blogher 2010, I submitted a bunch of posts for the Blogher Voice of the Year contest . Yes, it's a contest. People read the entries, people vote and only a few get to read their post to the conference. Anywho, I didn't win, but I am a finalist. And as such will be celebrated at the Blogher 2010 Gala and Art Auction. So yeah for not winning! My not-quite-winning post was one that I wrote for Girl w/Pen on the balance between human life and scientific discoveries/guidelines in light of the new mammogram guidelines. I'm happy that my writing was honored, giddy that it was something on Girl w/Pen and fucking off the wall that it was in the Geeky/Nerdy category. I'm disappointed that I won't be there for the Gala, but I couldn't do both Bloger and Netroots. A grrl on a budget has to make choices.

Andrea O'Reilly, general editor of the first ever encyclopedia on motherhood is in need of a replacement entry for the topic "music and mothers." The entry is needed by February 1, 2010 and is to be 2500 words including a work cited of approx 5 titles. The entry is to provide an overview of the topic historically but most of the entry should focus on the following: motherhood as a topic/theme in various musical genres of the 20th/21st centuries; rock, blues, jazz, hip hop, country etc; contemporary popular mother musicians such as Courtney Love, Britney Spears, Dixie Chicks etc. (their music, how treated/perceived in the industry); the contemporary motherhood rock movement with special attention to Mamapalooza. The encyclopedia is being published by Sage Press and will out in April 2010. Please email aoreilly@yorku.ca directly asap.

I had my first (yes, I plan on more) op-ed published in the Guardian yesterday and it's about Chicago's Olympic bid. By the time you read this, I'm sure a decision will be made. If it's yes, us Chicagoans need to hunker down for a bumpy ride. If it's no, whew!

Warning this post is really just a brain dump. I had a great phone call with one of my freelance 'bosses' and really it was great. But they pointed out that I like to write about women's stuff a lot. And it got me thinking... Yeah, I do write about women a lot. It might be me making up for a childhood of rejecting many girly things. Playing with dolls but scoffing at skirts & pink. For preferring the company of boys to girls because boys played sports and didn't squeal when they were hit. Then when I hit middle school, boys got too weird and girls were mostly catty. The ones who weren't, I was scared of getting too close in case I scared them away. But honestly I write about women because I don't feel like enough people are really writing about women in the media. If you give me a soapbox, a medium, a platform to talk about something, I'm sure that the first thing that comes to mind is about women. I know there are people in my life who get tired of it....

Here's my first commentary published on the Women's Media Center's website: As President-elect Obama moves quickly to assemble his team, women leaders monitoring his choices have put up a red alert about a reported short-list choice as secretary of the Treasury. Veronica Arreola, an educator and advocate for women in the sciences, explains why. Click here to read the full article: WMC Reprint & Credit Requirements: The Women's Media Center grants permission to reprint free-of-charge with the understanding that media outlets credit the author of the piece and the Women's Media Center, as in: "by [author's name] for The Women's Media Center ( www.womensmediacenter.com )." If the format allows it, please note at the end: "The WMC is a non-profit organization founded by Jane Fonda, Gloria Steinem, and Robin Morgan, dedicated to making women visible and powerful in the media."

My daughter is still in the phase of her life where I'm actually pretty cool (well, except when she's at school), so I try to share as much about myself with her as I can. So when my copy of Ms. came in the mail yesterday I showed her that mommy was in the magazine. *dumb, dumb dumb* "Mommy, read me what you wrote!" She asked with a huge smile. "Umm...sometimes mommy writes things that are for grown-ups." "Well just read me a part of it." *Mommy scans her book review for one sentence without rape or sexuality.* "Umm...You know how mommy always tells you that your body is yours. That no one has permission to touch you? (She nods) Well two women asked other people to write stories about how we can keep others from touching their bodies." "So, what do they do?" She asks with concern. "Well, a lot of things, sometimes it is saying "NO!" and sometimes they hit them." "Oh, well, you should always say, "NO...

And it is not just because Suze Orman is on the cover with that rock star smile of hers. Why should you pick it up? BECAUSE I AM IN IT! My review of Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape , edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti is in there! OK, sorry I keep screaming, but I can't believe that in the last six months my writing (and not a letter to the editor) has been in both Bitch and Ms . You have to pick up the issue or wait for it to find your doorstep to read the full review, but I want to give some mega kudos to the four of the many authors who bowled me over. Lisa Jervis, Latoya Peterson, Cristina Meztli Tzintzun, and fellow Bronco Kate Harding. Don't take the fact that I know three of these fab writers as bias. First I'd never kiss Lisa's ass, she could see right thru it. While Kate & I did go to high school together we didn't hang in the same circles. As for Latoya, well, she'd kick my ass if I lied about her ...

I signed up for 4 articles....yeah, I know. Dear ARM Members and Friends, We are inviting academic editorial contributors to the Encyclopedia of Motherhood, a new 3-volume reference to be published in 2009 by Sage Publications. This comprehensive work will be marketed and sold to college, public, and academic libraries and includes some 750 articles, covering all aspects of a social science perspective on motherhood, including psychology, gender studies, sociology, education, human development, history, and other fields. We are now making assignments with a deadline of January 15, 2009. Each article, ranging from 600 to 4,000 words, is signed by the contributor. The General Editor for the encyclopedia is Andrea O’Reilly, Ph.D., York University, who will review all the articles for editorial content and academic consistency. If you are interested in contributing to the encyclopedia, it can be a notable publication addition to your CV/resume and broaden your publishing credits. Payment ...

From the FAQ: FieldReport is a web site —a content ranking system and publishing model driven by the Web's richest writing contest. The contest is based on personal true-life stories called FieldReports—reports from the field of your life. FieldReport's contest motivates members to submit polished work and to spend time reviewing other work on the site, while a patent-pending blind review process pushes the best submissions quickly to the top, where they can win substantial cash prizes. FieldReport is reality entertainment and the start of a new marketplace for written content on the Web. After field testing Field Report I have to give it a thumbs up with a big asterisk. I think that it's a great social networky site for creative writers, but I'm not a creative writer. While all the field reports are supposed to be true life stories, thus giving you tons of short memoirs to comb through, the writing style is akin to fiction writing. The better writers (and warning ther...

You'll notice that the anthology button is gone. The project is on hiatus and there are many reasons why I totally support this move. I don't know what the future holds for the piece I wrote, but until I figure that out, it's in Adele 's trustworthy hands. I purposely missed a deadline because the piece that I ended up writing was far more personal that I had intended. While I think on the whole most of what I wrote is already "out there" in the universe, seeing it all in one package was damn scary. Don't fret, I didn't trash it like I did my high school journals (gawd damn I wish I still had those!). A deadline that I accidentally missed was extended to the end of this month. I need to revisit where I left off and wrap that baby up. It will also be pretty personal, but one that I feel is ready for the world to read...that is if it is chosen. I have a few more deadlines hovering but on top of some work deadlines, I'm not sure if I'll make them....

I just finished looking at my essay for What We Think and wow...some amazing editor took my last minute written essay and whipped into something that actually looks pretty darn good. And yes, I'm holding back because it's something *I* wrote and I don't want to get your expectations up when you do finally read it. ;-) But seriously, as someone who isn't a professional writer in the classic sense, I do have writer envy. Peering down at the fabulous books I gorge on and wonder, "Why can't I write like this?" Reading tight grant proposals and wondering "What's wrong with me?" I usually end up falling back on the very true fact that I don't have a great grasp on grammar and thus, I blow it off. But it's more than that. Now that I have received my edits, I know something else. Writers are not to be envied, it's the editors baby!! I have one for the anthology, I'll have one for the magazine article, and now to find one for ...

My husband just turned down the NCAA game to put on the radio. A station is playing some freakin' awesome mixes. I started listening during a Brooks & Dunn song that merged into Margaritaville into some booty-shaking music from high school. Just now: - My Humps - Nothing But A Good Time - Keep on Rocking Me Baby - Glamorous Life And in between the actual songs are snippets of other booty-shaking songs that really a feminist shouldn't be shaking her ass to, but I do. Sue me. Now if only I can finish my damn article on women of color in the mommy blogosphere. It's due next week and while it's very short, I'm totally freaking out as I have a lot riding on this baby. Mostly I don't want to disappoint the totally awesome people who will be reading & editing and maybe thinking, "Damn, maybe we don't need this..." Back to work! - You're The One I Want over Snoop Dogg just started...