Category Archives: feminism

November 03, 2016   Jessica   African American literature, books that shaped us, feminism  
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Literary Survival Kits

Author, journalist and client Mychal Denzel Smith has a thoughtful, provocative and elegant piece in today’s LitHub. The title is “The Black Boy Literary Survival Kit” and in it he writes about the books that influenced his own coming of age, as well as the books that he would now share with young African American men. Since the subtitle is “You Need Black Women More Than You Know,” it’s not a spoiler to note that in addition to the canonical writers like James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright and Malcolm X, Smith looks to black women writers, who are often far less read and celebrated.

He asks “ How different would our conversations about Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, Chris Brown, and now Nate Parker be if every black man came to it having already read Pearl Cleage’s “Mad at Miles”? If our survival kit included black women’s voices, our survival tactics would include them, too.”

His piece is worth reading for any number of reasons, but it underlines an idea that most readers share—that books shape us, our convictions, our ambitions, our imaginations, our lives. What we read matters.

I had a similar sort of conversation with Mona Eltahawy a few weeks back. Eltahawy is an Egyptian- American author and activist, and she speaks about violence against women to audiences all over the world. With magenta hair and a tattoo of the lioness-headed Sekhmet (goddess of war and healing) on her arm, she not only cuts a striking figure, she is as frank and fearless as anyone I have ever known. She says that the young women who approach her often wonder if she was “born this way;” brave, furious, willing to take on taboo subjects, and speak, as the expression goes, truth to power. She told me, laughing, that this was far from the case. She talked about the books and authors that were her lodestars, the works that shaped her perspective, that comprised her own survival guide. I wouldn’t presume to write that piece for her (though I’m keen to see her do it), but I do think that each of us has his (or her or their) own survival kit, filled with the books that showed us how to be in the world.

What books would you include?

March 08, 2016   sharon   feminism, gender, inspiration, Sharon, women  
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We Should All Be Feminist

Today is International Women’s Day, which, believe it or not, dates back to 1908, when 15,000 women marched in New York City to demand better pay, better hours, and voting rights. Social media brought the celebration to my attention a few years ago, and, I’m grateful that today my Facebook and Twitter are an extravaganza of women celebrating each other and the achievements we’ve made toward more equal lives.

 

 

So, in the spirit of adding to the inspiration,  I asked a few of my officemates about books that were significant to their understanding of women’s issues and equality, and got some moving responses that have definitely added to my reading list! Lauren is a fan of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminist, which she describes as “Conveniently bite-sized but available as a small physical book as well, it’s a smart, inclusive, and compelling case for why feminism is for all of us. Perfect for people who are too overwhelmed by the decades of discourse to know where to start.” Amy mentioned C**t by Inga Muscio: “I was in high school when I read it, and it really opened my eyes on a personal and global level as to what women were facing and the remarkable things that had already been accomplished.”

Jim suggested Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, sharing the following really incredible story:

My 7th grade English teacher was a kickass feminist activist who pushed really challenging material. Herland was my first experience dealing with issues of separatism at all, but it also really informed my notion of the distrust that can exist, and most importantly, the roots of that distrust in systemic sexual violence. I went on to read The Yellow Wallpaper, which further blew my mind. It was one of the first times that I had to confront profound inequality in a way that broke through my incredibly sheltered and narrow world-view. It was an eye-opener, and (in retrospect) a gloriously nervy lesson for a teacher to drive home so hard to a group of middle school students.

Jim’s story brought to mind my childhood librarian, Carla, who took me seriously from the first moment I approached her desk; while I don’t remember a specific book she recommended that taught me about feminism, her interest in my ideas about books and her example as the first working mom I ever knew—a working woman who loved her work and took pride in it—were incredibly influential.  And to bring it into the present, my book club tonight is discussing Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, which is a lively little book that should be required reading for every human being, explores the how mildly annoying behaviors like mansplaining are connected to the global epidemic of violence against women.

If you’re on social media, check out the hashtag #IWD2016 for more inspiring stories and galvanizing information. And please, in the comments, chime in with your favorite books celebrating women and women’s issues!