pondhop | Entries tagged with feminism

I wrapped up a big deliverable last night (yes, it was a US holiday, but you know what they say about freelancing -- you can work any 60 hours of the week you want...), and I have been correspondingly useless today -- which is okay, because there are worse fates than harvesting basil leaves for pesto while watching Wimbledon and ultimate frisbee on ESPN3.

Also, my crush on Jody Adams continues:

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/women-who-belong-in-the-kitchen-jody-adams/

Something that leapt out from a recent NYT interview:

Early on, some guy kept hitting on me and when I said I wouldn't go out with him, he said, "You must be a lesbian." A young stupid kid hit me on the butt, and I said, "Don't ever do that again." And he said, "You tempted me." I have no tolerance and I fight. We have to teach women to do that. The first time someone crosses the line, we have to stand up and say, don't do that.

I don't know if I can get myself to Boston next June (the Early Music Festival is producing three Monteverdi operas, and a friend just announced the birth of his third child, and I haven't seen

marginaliana since 2008, and ... the reasons are plenty, but we'll have to see how all the other moving parts shake out), but Rialto/Trade are definitely on the list. In the meantime, the blog produced by Jody and her husband is a splendid thing, and I hope to make the kale salad with plums, roquefort and walnuts soon.

In writing news, I just received my contributor's copy of the 2015 Texas Poetry Calendar, which includes my poem "Texas Instruments" (which, being a poem about my daddy, appropriately appears opposite the page for the week of Father's Day). Whee!

This entry was originally posted at http://bronze-ribbons.dreamwidth.org/381182.html. I see comments at DW, IJ, and LJ (when notifications are working, anyway), but not on feeds.

Current Mood: happy

In the New York Times, Jodi Kantor asked Katty Kay about a list that Christine Lagarde carries with her:

KK: She got so fed up of men coming up to her and saying, you know we'd love to have more women at the top of companies, or we'd love to have more women running things, but we just can't find the good candidates. This annoyed her so much that she wrote down a list of 10 really good women, qualified women, and put it in her purse. Every time a man came up to her and said, "It's such a shame we can't find a qualified woman," out would come the list.

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/80947.html.

...which were Laura Lee Guhrke's When the Marquess Met His Match (which, incidentally, has some cheeky nods to Pride & Predjudice and Jo Beverley's Seduction in Silk), I've noticed something the plots have in common that pleases me. It is to some degree a spoiler, so I'll put it under a cut:

( Read more... )

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/71443.html.

I've never met a woman who is not strong, but sometimes they don't let it out. Then there's a tragedy, and then all of a sudden that strength comes. My message is let the strength come out before the tragedy.

-- Diane von Furstenberg, in the New York Times Magazine

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/55868.html.

Flower arrangement on Eastland Street, last Saturday (on my way to an ice cream parlor)

As it happened, John soon fell in love with a beautiful girl called Joan Furlong (and incidentally, a furlong is a measure of track in horse racing). Joan was an extremely nice girl and John wanted very much to marry her. He knew our parents would be against this, as he hadn't finished school yet. He had no money. She had no money. Hoping to secure their approval, John invented the story that Joan was pregnant and told our parents this. These were the days when abortions were illegal and thus very risky procedures. They often led to health complications, the least of which resulted in an inability to bear children. Much to everyone's surprise, our mother (an ardent Catholic) suggested that Joan should have an abortion to quickly resolve the issue! I have often noticed (and find it ironic) that fervent Christians are very prone to changing their minds on the issue of abortion when members of their family are involved in this type of crisis.

--Niki de Saint Phalle

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/55132.html.

Elizabeth Bear (and commenters): Harassment is not flirting. It's not actually all that complicated.

Mike Ward, a reporter in Texas, has been has been tweeting about the special legislative session. Dewhurst "says 2/3 Rule will not be enforced, meaning simple majority votes will pass bills." Also tweeting from Austin is @texyellowdogdem, whose posts have included this snapshot of messages on wire hangers. Several tweeters have accused the state government of shutting down public wi-fi and electricity access in the area in order to thwart media and pro-choice protesters.

Smiling sisters shot dead for dancing in the rain: Pakistani girls, 15 and 16, killed along with their mother for making video which 'stained the family honour'

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/54866.html.

Current Mood: angry
Current Music: Ani DiFranco, "Out of Range"

It's been a week where I removed myself from one conversation and unfollowed a half-dozen people because I cannot let myself get snarled into open-ended firefights over sexism if I'm going to meet my next deadline (and the three on its heels), and yet, and yet...

*seethes*

So this leaped out at me when I peeked over at Eileen Tabios's blog, where she talks about reading a collective autobiography whose authors include Lyn Hejinian:

Two of the male poets asked her if she'd read this other author and she'd felt the question to be a "test" .... I get this. I know this. While not proposing acrimony, I am reminded of several conversations with males and male poets, including one with an older, male poet wherein, at one point, I told him, "You do not know more than I do. I simply know different things from what you know."

In happier news: I sold a poem this week (fourth acceptance of the year; first one I'll receive cash for), my publisher sent me a royalty update a few hours ago, and I'm tickled at the company said book is currently keeping over at Amazon (it has been purchased in tandem with books by Neal Stephenson and Merrie Haskell [the latter is currently giving away copies of her new book and pretty bits of goat, by the way], and it is for the moment on a Top 10 list with Janet Wong, Cathy Park Hong, and Maxine Hong Kingston).

Also, it was 68 degrees F when I went hiking this afternoon. The turtles were out in force, and we also spotted a huge wild turkey and tiny little flowers.

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/45131.html.

"Did you just send that woman to a church to get help with an abortion?"

"Yes. Yes, I did."

- Darcy Baxter, a Unitarian chaplain, writes about trying to find options for a woman living 500 miles from the nearest abortion provider

In the March 2013 issue of Vogue, Katherine Bernard writes about Saundra Pelletier and WomanCareGlobal, which is taking a "Robin Hood approach" to making contraception available in developing countries. "We make a profit in markets like Ghana and Kenya." A striking detail: "$1,000 can buy 100 women in the developing world one year's worth of contraceptives."

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/41472.html.

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Location: dining room table

...in the March 2013 issue of Vogue:

When they do run [for Congress], [women] enjoy the same success rate as men, and when they win, their impact is disproportionate to their numbers. It's because, says a senator, "women don't get elected by putting on a flight suit and swaggering across a flight deck. They get elected by getting things accomplished, and that carries through in how they govern." Congresswomen consistently outperform men on a practical level. When it comes to winning Federal funds and support for the district, it is much better to have a woman fighting on your behalf. Political scientists have calculated that the bonus to constituents in electing a woman legislator runs to about $88 per head in government spending.

- Amanda Foreman, "The Female Factor"

[Claims like these make me long for footnotes...]

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/41171.html.

Current Mood: curious
Current Music: Dar Williams, "As Cool As I Am"

From this past Sunday. "PB" from Manlius, NY, commented on women who plan weddings without a prospective groom:

Oh those blasted fairy tales filling little girls' heads with romantic nonsense.

In reality, you can start out as a princess, get married, and end up sitting by the fireplace in rags at the end of a drudge-filled day.

Women, come to your senses: Plan on not getting married, and then see if anyone is good enough to convince you otherwise.

If I were writing a guide for girls, I would want this in there.

That said, there have been three things this week that brought tears to my eyes in a good way. The first was that Budweiser Super Bowl commercial with the foal. The second was a story that pushed my buttons but is eluding my memory at the moment. The third was Rosalie Randomsky's writeup of Rajeev Kaul's proposal to Gitika Ahuja:

Soon after they began dating seriously, Mr. Kaul, who plays guitar and keyboard and a D.J. and producer of electronica and lounge music, was intrigued to learn that Ms. Ahuja's late father had been "really into music, like old Indian music," with one exception -- "What a Wonderful World," as sung by Louis Armstrong.

Mr. Kaul proposed to her in Hawaii last January. She had been there with her family. After her family left, the couple hiked down muddy, slippery trails to Secret Beach, whose proper name is Kauapea Beach, on Kauai.

"It's super-secluded," she said, "very 'From Here to Eternity.' "

Mr. Kaul had brought his guitar and as he tuned it, he told her he had learned a song just for her. When he told her it was "What a Wonderful World," she said, she immediately looked upon it as a thoughtful gesture marking the fourth anniversary of her father's death, which was the next day.

After he finished, he told her he had played the song for a different reason.

"I already got your mom's permission to marry you and I played this to get your dad's permission," he said. He then got on one knee.

This entry was originally posted at http://zirconium.dreamwidth.org/39253.html.