Feb

15

Book Review: Promises I Can Keep

Filed Under books, class and economics, feminism, media, parenthood, paternalism, reproductive justice, reviews | 1 Comment

Book cover of "Promises I Can Keep." Depicts the title and authors' names, and a photograph of a white woman with two children.I’m the kind of person who hoards books, and finds difficulty getting the the time to read them all within what most people would consider to be an even remotely reasonable timeframe. While that’s something I’m working on getting under control, the consequence is that I’m also the kind of person, who, if she ever actually writes a book review, writes it long after the book has been released.

Such is the case with Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage, by Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas, released in 2005. As the title would suggest, this book is about low-income mothers who have had children outside of marriage, and why this often demonized (or pitied) demographic has grown.

The shortened conclusion is that low-income single mothers are overwhelmingly purposely choosing to carry pregnancies to term and desperately desire to have their children. Under the classist, and for women of color (the interview subjects were split evenly among women who are white, African American, and of Puerto Rican descent), racist, circumstances in which these women live, college and middle-class financial stability are not seen as attainable goals — or at least, not as attainable goals that having children will significantly hinder — and so choosing to wait until after these supposed milestones to have children frequently makes little to no sense.

Low-income single mothers being presented as rational decision makers, women who are making the choices best suited to their circumstances (rather than accident prone leeches on the system), is a rare thing indeed, and that’s why I was drawn to the book. To that end alone, I certainly thought that it was a worthwhile read, and would recommend it to others. But, at the same time, I also found that it had a few significant faults.

Read more

Nov

22

So You Want To Be A Rock n Roll Star

Filed Under media, objectification, pop culture, products, reviews, sexism | 5 Comments

[cross-posted from Femniste]

About a month ago, I wrote a post about Guitar Hero III. The main gist was that as a big-time previous fan of the series, I was thoroughly unimpressed with the the changes that have been made to the game, which are quite misogynist, exploitative of women and completely insensitive to the fact that the game has a female audience. To my great surprise, the post became a big hit (and troll target) and was linked to in all kinds of forums and blogs that would normally never give me a second glance. This was also to my slight dismay, because I didn’t spend much time on that post, and frankly, I don’t think that it’s very good. Anyway, lesson learned.

The point is that I now feel compelled if not required to say a few words about Rock Band.

Read more

Oct

20

We Don’t Need Another Wave

Filed Under LGBTQ, books, feminism, media, race and racism, reviews | 5 Comments

I just finished reading We Don’t Need Another Wave: Dispatches From The Next Generation of Feminists, edited by Melody Berger. It is a collection of over 30 essays by young feminists talking about why feminism is still relevant today, how the movement is evolving and ways to work on new issues and methods.

Of course, with any anthology there is going to be a mixture of quality, and therefore I enjoyed some essays more than others. I did find it to be a fun and intellectually stimulating read, though.

I found the book to be quite diverse. It managed to include many women of color from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, several queer activists and a couple that were both.

Read more

Oct

1

The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler

Filed Under abortion, books, human rights, patriarchy, pregnancy, reproductive justice, reviews, slut-shaming, women’s health | 12 Comments

I just finished reading Ann Fessler’s The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade. From the title, it’s clear that this is a book about adoption. To me, it was about what happens when we don’t give women choices.

“Girl who went away,” according to Fessler, is a term that most women and men who grew up in the years between the end of WWII and the Roe v. Wade decision would instantly recognize. It was code for a woman with an unplanned “illegitimate” pregnancy. The girls “went away” in futile attempt to hide the pregnancy and to save their family from embarrassment, before relinquishing their child for adoption. They went to live with distant family members, or more often a maternity home for unwed mothers, where pregnant girls and young women were generally forced in, went through labor and kicked out as though on an assembly line.

The book is an oral history. The bulk is made up of extended first person narratives of women who surrendered their children for adoption. Interspersed between the narratives are chapters by Fessler that better explain various aspects of the surrendering process- becoming pregnant, confessing the pregnancy, being sent away during the pregnancy, giving birth, surrendering and grief- with historical details and statistics. I actually learned a lot from these sections, but it was the narratives that stuck with me. The first one made me tear up. And the worst part was just how shockingly similar each and every story was.

The word “surrender” is not accidental. It is incredibly deliberate and highly political. Usually, when talking about adoption, mothers are referred to as “giving away” their babies. But “giving away” not only implies a false sense that the mother did not want her child, it also implies that the mother had a choice. And a choice is the last thing that these women had.

Read more

Aug

12

A Question of Choice by Sarah Weddington

Filed Under abortion, activism, books, feminism, media, reproductive justice, reviews | 7 Comments

I recently finished reading A Question of Choice by Sarah Weddington. Sarah Weddington is one of the two lawyers who originally filed Roe v. Wade, and the woman who argued the case in front of the Supreme Court. Though the effort was certainly not hers entirely, we do owe her a huge debt of gratitude, since legal abortion never would have happened how and as soon as it did without her.

That’s why I picked up this book. A Question of Choice could be considered an autobiography, a detailed, personalized account of the Roe case, or a history of reproductive rights in America from shortly before Roe was filed to the early 90s, when the book was written. The fact that Weddington couldn’t quite make up her mind about what the book was going to be is definitely its greatest weakness.

The good news is that the book is good enough to make the lack of cohesion worth it.

Read more

Jul

24

Small Victories Still Deserve to be Celebrated

Filed Under Democrats, LGBTQ, class and economics, homophobia, human rights, legislation, politics, reviews, work | 1 Comment

Whoa, another crazy day today with my PP internship . . . I promise that I will work out a system very shortly for putting up posts in a timely manner on days when I’m interning. In the meantime, thanks for your patience. I’m going to reward it now with some (mostly) good news!

Firstly, today marked the first federal minimum wage increase in a decade. It is now $5.85. By this day in 2009, it will be $7.25. That’s still nowhere near a living wage, so don’t celebrate too much. But let’s tip our hats to the Dems, anyway, for getting done in less than a year what the GOP congress refused to do for over a decade.

Equally awesome (and with equal caveats), Washington State started recognizing same-sex civil unions yesterday. They are now the sixth state in the U.S. to do so (in addition to the District of Columbia, which also allows civil unions, and Massachusetts, which allows same-sex marriage). Of course, the goal here is equality, and that means full rights and recognition availability in the form of marriage. Gay-rights advocates have vowed to keep fighting, but in the meantime they’re enjoying being treated just a teensy bit more like actual human beings.

Jul

13

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Filed Under books, feminism, media, reviews | 11 Comments

When it comes to “classic” literature, I’m a tough sell. Without a doubt, I prefer modern literature because I prefer modern language and modern narrative styles. I find most of the classics to be over-rated, with the real strength being in theme and basic storyline, not the actual storytelling. I also have a lot of difficulty getting past the misogyny and racism in a lot of classics, no matter how representative of the times it may be.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I became engrossed in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I picked it up precisely because I had heard of its supposedly feminist themes, but I was highly skeptical of it actually living up.  What I found was a compelling story and constant awareness and criticism of the gendered roles and power-relationships between the characters.

The Awakening is the story of Edna Pontellier, a married woman in the late 1800s. Through a friendship with a single male (Robert Lebrun), which slowly turns to sexual desire, she begins to question her life as a married woman, how she is treated by her husband and the place of women in society in general. The “awakening” in the book is both a sexual awakening, and an awakening to the restrictiveness of her place in society.

[Spoilers begin here, after the jump]

Read more

Jul

2

Killing the Black Body

Filed Under books, discrimination, feminism, parenthood, race and racism, reproductive justice, reviews, women’s health | 5 Comments

I just finished reading Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts for the Pandagon book club. Amanda’s thoughts on it are great and fairly comprehensive, so check them out, and go participate in the discussion if you’ve read the book yourself.

I’m pretty sure that this book was on my wish list already, before it was announced as the July Pandagon book. I wanted to read it because I’m always trying to learn more about reproductive rights and the history of reproductive rights, but also because I’m currently trying to learn more about issues that affect women of color. I’ve long-heard the argument that white feminists (like myself) tend to ignore reproductive rights issues that women of color face in favor of a focus on keeping abortion legal, even if it’s only readily available to middle and upper-class women. Other than an awareness of past eugenics and forced sterilization campaigns, as well as the knowledge that abortion access is largely restricted to women of color due to the scarcity of clinics and the lack of public funds for the procedure, I really honestly did not know what those issues were, though.

Read more

Jul

1

SiCKO

Filed Under media, reviews | 8 Comments

On Friday, I saw Michael Moore’s new documentary Sicko.

Michael Moore and I have a long history. Between 2001 and 2004, he was my hero. I’ll never forget seeing Roger & Me for the first time in 2001, in my Government & Economics class. I’m not sure what possessed my libertarian teacher to show it, but for a 17 year old liberal in a conservative town, it was revelatory. After that, I read Stupid White Men. I remember it being a strong indictment, and one of the first comprehensive, mainstream indictments of Bush. It was empowering and infuriating. Coincidentally, in my first semester of college in February 2002, my media literacy class screened The Big One, and I scored the class presentation. Obviously, I loved Bowling for Columbine. Farenheit 9/11 made me cry with rage.

Read more

Jun

15

Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters

Filed Under books, feminism, media, reviews | 12 Comments

The other night, I finished reading Courtney Martin’s new book Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body. I picked it up for several reasons. Martin occasionally blogs at Feministing, which I love, I had read a good excerpt from the book in Bitch Magazine. After reading The Beauty Myth, I was also eager to learn more about the beauty industry and culture, and its effect on young women.

Read more

Next Page →