feminism? (2 Viewers)

[sarah]

So female empowerment the vote, gender equality and it seems to a lesser extent lesbianism and diy (if dublin events and my own biases are anything to go by ).

I'm all for girl power but is that synonymous with grrrrl/anarchist/angry??
from the eye of the lazy observer i.e. me it certainly seems so at least in 2008.

Have picked up and have just started the Second Sex and I already like it thus far, but what books would you recommend as essential (and preferably readable) to release me from my ignorance at this late stage in my life.


all recommendations much appreciated

 

[jane]

If you want to read about third wave feminism, I just read this:

http://www.blackdogonline.com/all-books/riot-grrrl.html

It's fairly good, although there are sections that are far too dry to give due credit to a movement that was anything *but* dry.

I also liked Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.

Another one is Full Frontal Feminism, but it was of middling quality. The tone is a bit patronising, and I think the blog (feministing.org) from which it came is miles and miles better.

That any good to ya?

 

[Super Dexta]

the feminism discussions are being done to death on other threads at the moment so i'm not going to go there.

bukes i like on gender, sex and feminist issues:

-quiet rumours: an anarcha-feminist reader
-cunt (inga muscio)
-the beauty myth (naomi wolf)
-sexing the brain (lesley rogers)
-female chauvinist pigs (ariel levy)

I don't agree with everything in all of those but they definitely make for interesting reading.

 

[jane]

I didn't like Cunt. I thought it was patronising and a bit too touchy-feely. And I didn't like the whole home abortion thing, either. I'm all for alternative medicine, but I thought it was a fairly dangerous model to present, especially given that it seemed to be aimed at a pretty young readership. I didn't like the writing style at all.

I liked the Beauty Myth, though. I read that when it first came out, and I was young and impressionable and it was a book I really benefited from. Not sure if I would get the same out of it now, but it's worth reading, for sure.

 

[Mormon Nailer]

feministing.org

I really must try to read slower.

 

[Super Dexta]

I didn't like Cunt. I thought it was patronising and a bit too touchy-feely. And I didn't like the whole home abortion thing, either. I'm all for alternative medicine, but I thought it was a fairly dangerous model to present, especially given that it seemed to be aimed at a pretty young readership. I didn't like the writing style at all.

The writing style did take a bit of getting used to, and there was a lot of hippy carry-on that got up my nose a bit. I did think she made some good points though, it's just been a while since I've read it so i can't remember what they were

 

[jane]

I really lost interest at the bit where she's like, "Taste yourself." Apparently, you can tell what day of your cycle you're on if you do this frequently enough. Fair enough, but when I want to know what day it is, I generally look at a calendar. Maybe she was trying to wean her readers off of calendars or something?

Too much with the hippy shit, that book, but yes, there were some good points made. I just can't remember any of them because of the IF YOU DO NOT ADMIRE THE FLOWERBED OF YOUR LADYUNDERCARRIAGE, THE PATRIARCHY WINS. I'm like, "Chill out, dude."

There was this cafe in the town I went to college in where they had all sorts of mags to read. One of them was this new-age hippy bullshit fucking Gaia Geeflaps thing where there was an article on making a tincture out of your menstrual blood and planting a phial of it in your garden around some point in the moon's cycle and yadda yadda yadda.

 

[sarah]

the feminism discussions are being done to death on other threads at the moment so i'm not going to go there.

bukes i like on gender, sex and feminist issues:

-quiet rumours: an anarcha-feminist reader
-cunt (inga muscio)
-the beauty myth (naomi wolf)
-sexing the brain (lesley rogers)
-female chauvinist pigs (ariel levy)

I don't agree with everything in all of those but they definitely make for interesting reading.

cheers!- point taken on the discussion part of it being done to death thanks for recommendations

 

[Mitchum]

Women-Charles Bukowski

 

[Super Dexta]

I really lost interest at the bit where she's like, "Taste yourself." Apparently, you can tell what day of your cycle you're on if you do this frequently enough. Fair enough, but when I want to know what day it is, I generally look at a calendar. Maybe she was trying to wean her readers off of calendars or something?

Too much with the hippy shit, that book, but yes, there were some good points made. I just can't remember any of them because of the IF YOU DO NOT ADMIRE THE FLOWERBED OF YOUR LADYUNDERCARRIAGE, THE PATRIARCHY WINS. I'm like, "Chill out, dude."

There was this cafe in the town I went to college in where they had all sorts of mags to read. One of them was this new-age hippy bullshit fucking Gaia Geeflaps thing where there was an article on making a tincture out of your menstrual blood and planting a phial of it in your garden around some point in the moon's cycle and yadda yadda yadda.

you should write a book called Gee.

 

[jane]

cheers!- point taken on the discussion part of it being done to death thanks for recommendations

Yah. I don't think the discussion has been done to death, it just never happens. We've never actually had a proper discussion on Thumped about any of the debates within feminism because it all just turns into a shitstorm.

Anyway, this thread is for recommending reading material. Not shitstorms.

I also recommend picking up Bitch and Bust magazines. They're really good, well-written and fun to read.

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

Snatch by Guy Ritchie.

 

[jane]

you should write a book called Gee.

Maybe we can just hire a translator to translate Cunt into Howyese?

After all, Cunt is a much more general word on this side of the water. You'd never know who the book was about if you saw it on the cover. It could be about some horrible taxi journey.

I do think I shall henceforth refer to menstrual-blood-sucking hippy shit as Gaia Geeflaps, though.

 

[magicbastarder]

you should write a book called Gee.

gee whiz?

 

[Super Dexta]

Yah. I don't think the discussion has been done to death, it just never happens. We've never actually had a proper discussion on Thumped about any of the debates within feminism because it all just turns into a shitstorm.

yeah I think that was what I meant -- the threads always turn into 20-page odysseys that make me want to tear my hair out in frustration, nothing useful ever seems to come of them.

 

[Super Dexta]

Maybe we can just hire a translator to translate Cunt into Howyese?

After all, Cunt is a much more general word on this side of the water. You'd never know who the book was about if you saw it on the cover. It could be about some horrible taxi journey.

I do think I shall henceforth refer to menstrual-blood-sucking hippy shit as Gaia Geeflaps, though.

I think I'll write one called Minge.

 

[jane]

gee whiz?

Sold.

 

[Corey]

Rivers of Blood.

 

[Corey]

Sorry.

 

[muffin]

I agree with the recommendations for Female Chauvinist Pigs.

Manifesta by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards was probably the book that really helped me come to terms with my own view of feminism. It's written by two 3rd wavers and it was one of the first books I'd read where I felt like I could hear my voice. I'd recommend it to anybody.