Book Shelf

Here Come the Brides: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage

April 12, 2012 By Maria 2 Comments

I feel I owe any potential readers of this review two disclaimers: 1) I’m recently (heterosexually) married 2) I’m a pretty emotional softy who loves a real-life story with a happy ending. And with that out of the way, here’s the basic thing you should know about this book: it’s awesome! I absolutely loved it. This 400-page new Seal Press anthology edited by Audrey Bilger and Michele Kort is a veritable page-turner, which includes essays, as well as poems, comic strips and pictures. I had real trouble putting the thing down and had “something in my eye” on more than one occasion.

The book is what the title claims it will be – reflections on lesbian love and marriage – and more. Between the covers are dozens of stories of real women, real drama, real love and real sadness. It gripped my heart and made me think seriously about some of the issues concerning marriage equality, which I have never given much thought before. This book is more than just love stories with a happy ending – there are also stories of divorce and essays by women who do not want to get married to their life partners. For the first time, I seriously considered the arguments of LGBTQ activists who claim marriage equality is a “political red herring” which draws attention away from other important issues such as health and immigration. It made me think about what marriage actually really means to me, and what a privilege it was to get married so easily in a pretty homophobic country.
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Filed Under: Book Shelf, LGBTQ Tagged With: Audrey Bilger, here come the brides, lesbian weddings, Michele Kort

Women’s History Month: Harriet Hosmer

March 29, 2012 By Jodi 1 Comment

Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908) is probably the most famous American artist you’ve never heard of, and I think that should change. I came to Harriet Hosmer by way of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The two women were expatratriates together in mid-nineteenth century Italy; both were extremely popular in their day and all but disappeared from popular memory a generation later. (Only Elizabeth Barrett’s marriage to Robert Browning seems to have kept her from disappearing from the British canon completely.)

I’m here to do my small part in returning Harriet Hosmer to her rightful place in American history. I can only hope that we finally live in an era where there are too many women participating in public life for a generation of female achievement to be buried again.

Historian Kate Culkin, the author of Harriet Hosmer: A Cultural Biography, believes “Harriet Hosmer’s life resonates with those of us in the 21st century as she was so interested in and adept at shaping her image for the public. She was an international celebrity, and she and her supporters took great care to ensure that Hosmer, an ambitious, single woman who had moved to Rome with no intention of returning to the United States, was depicted an patriotic and genteel.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Shelf, History Tagged With: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, female marriage, Harrier Hosmer, lesbian, women artists, women's history, Women's History Month, zenobia in chains

Book Review: Madonna and Me: Women Writers on the Queen of Pop

March 14, 2012 By Sarah 1 Comment

Image courtest of madonnaandmebook.com

When I was in elementary school, there were two dominant female pop singers: Madonna and Cyndi Lauper. I didn’t have MTV so everything I knew about these two women was based on what my friends told me, and somehow I got the idea that you could like one or the other but not both. So I chose Cyndi Lauper, because everyone else seemed to worship Madonna and I’ve always been a contrarian like that.

I’m still more a fan of Cyndi than Madonna, but reading the wonderful anthology Madonna and Me: Women Writers on the Queen of Pop has given me a new appreciation not just for Madonna’s influence on music and popular culture, but the impact that she’s had on multiple generations of women. Not all of the thirty-nine essays in this collection are flattering to the erstwhile Material Girl; some of them are downright nasty. But whether the writer has come to praise or bury Madonna Louise Ciccone, she does it with intelligence and passion. The icon is the lens through which a whole range of issues, including religion, sexuality, feminism, body image, race, and socioeconomic status are explored, and it’s interesting to see such a diverse range of reactions and viewpoints that all have the same catalyst in common.

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Filed Under: Book Shelf, Pop Culture Tagged With: cyndi lauper, feminism, laura barcella, madonna, MTV, music, pop culture, women writers

Women’s History Month: Dorothy Allison

March 9, 2012 By Sarah Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of dorothyallison.net

“It is easy to be an entertainer as a woman. It is easy to tell stories to charm people. But mostly we believe our stories aren’t worth anything, that our stories aren’t important, and that if they are important, they’re dangerous, and therefore too dangerous to tell anyone. The only way I ever began to write was because there was a women’s movement. If there had not been a women’s liberation movement in the early 70’s, I would not only have not started writing. I would not be alive.”

-Dorothy Allison

I recently mentioned to a friend that I wanted to re-read Dorothy Allison’s 1992 masterpiece, Bastard Out of Carolina. “Hmm,” my friend, who admires Allison greatly, replied. “I don’t know if I’d want to re-read that book, even though I really like it.”

I know what she means. Bastard is written by a woman that knows how to tell a good story, filled with vibrant people and achingly realistic dialogue. But it is also a book about brutality, poverty, and the heartbreaking ways that families let each other down, no matter how much they love each other. The physical and sexual violence that the protagonist, a girl named Bone, experiences at the hands of her stepfather is difficult to read, even as you keep going, deeply invested in Bone’s survival and happiness.

Book Review: Naked Fashion

March 2, 2012 By Sarah Leave a Comment

My daily wardrobe doesn’t reflect it, but I love fashion. I was one of the thousands that waited semi-patiently for hours to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum last summer, and I subscribe to Vogue primarily to drool over pictures of exquisitely crafted garments. So it was with great interest that I opened Naked Fashion: The New Sustainable Fashion Revolution – but also no small amount of trepidation. Would I come away feeling guilty about buying the occasional tank top from Old Navy? Would I be depressed by the inhumane working conditions that so many garment factory workers experience every day? Would I be overwhelmed by all the myriad ways that the mainstream fashion industry could make its practices more humane and environmentally responsible, yet fails to?

Well … yes, to varying degrees. But this collection of essays and interviews is also incredibly empowering, presenting a clear-eyed look at both what is wrong with current business practices and what individuals and designers can do to effect positive change. The contributors, including actress Emma Watson and designer Vivienne Westwood, don’t just offer their insights on fashion, but also on the related industries of graphic design, modeling, and advertising to give readers a fascinating look at what really goes into the clothes we buy.
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Filed Under: Book Shelf Tagged With: clothes, developing countries, environment, fair trade, fashion, India, people tree, sustainability

Intimate Wars Book Giveaway

December 18, 2011 By Sarah Leave a Comment

The pro-choice movement is full of “war stories”, personal actions that women and men have taken for social and reproductive justice. Pro-choice pioneer Merle Hoffman shares some of her most significant experiences in her new book Intimate Wars, and now she’s inviting other activists to tell theirs, whether it was accompanying a friend to her abortion, standing up to someone for their hateful actions, or rallying for social change. Through December 19, if you share your experience with Merle on her Facebook page or through Twitter, you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing to receive a free, signed copy of Intimate Wars!

Filed Under: Book Shelf, Quick Hit Tagged With: book, intimate wars, Merle Hoffman, pro-choice, social justice, stories

Merle Hoffman Describes Her Life in Activism

November 28, 2011 By Sarah 1 Comment

In 1971, Merle Hoffman founded Choices Medical Center, one of the country’s first abortion clinics. An activist, journalist, and women’s health care pioneer, Merle is also the publisher On The Issues magazine. Her new book, Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Boardroom , will be published in January.

When did you first call yourself a feminist? What inspired that decision?
My feminism came from the “ground up,” from practice to theory. It was catalyzed by the first patient who came to Choices and whose hand I held during her abortion. My political activism was inspired by the Hyde Amendment in 1976, which I viewed as an egregious attack on poor and minority women.

I did not call myself a feminist until the mid-80s. Prior to that I was merely responding to a great need in front of me in the form of thousands of women presenting themselves for abortion services. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Shelf, Feminist Conversations Tagged With: Abortion, bella abzug, choices east, choices medical clinic, elie wiesel, flo kennedy, Hyde Amendment, Merle Hoffman, Roe v. Wade, Russia

Life Choices: The Teachings of Abortion

November 22, 2011 By Jodi Leave a Comment

This month at Feminists for Choice we’ve been making a conscious effort to count our blessings and consider all we have to be thankful for. I can’t help but think I have the universe to thank for bringing Linda Weber, a pioneer feminist with over forty years of abortion counseling experience, and her book, Life Choices: The Teachings of Abortion, into my life at this particular time to help me recognize mine. Weber has a gift for making the most profound matters of human existence seem approachable, even debatable, without making them seem any less profound from the discussing.

Much of this comes from the fact that she is fearless where others might turn away–or wish away–or never face in the first place. I absolutely believe in a woman’s right to have an abortion, so I was surprised by my initial reaction to the book’s subtitle. But there it was. Uncomfortably. “The Teachings of Abortion?” “Teachings?” Didn’t that seem too … upbeat? Too celebratory? It wasn’t until I had started reading that I realized I had made exactly the sort of judgment Weber avoids. (And exactly the sort of judgment abortion opponents are counting on.) Where I was feeling there was either good or bad, Weber illustrates patiently, time and again, that there is only experience, and it is rarely uncomplicated. (And rarely, is it communicated with precision like this: “The moral position of most women in the abortion decision is neither pro-life nor pro-choice.”) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Shelf, Gratitude Tagged With: Abortion, counseling, life choices, linda weber, pro-choice, pro-life, women tell their stories

Dr. Stuart Bramhall Battles for Tomorrow

November 14, 2011 By Roxanna 1 Comment

The Battle for Tomorrow: A Fable, by Dr. Stuart Bramhall, is a self-published book about sixteen-year-old Ange, a politically conscious girl who struggles to seek independence and identity. Ange encounters both hindrances and help in her journey toward adulthood. An ageist, misogynistic culture hinders her goal of emancipation; unexpected help comes in the form of older women who empathize with and encourage their young friend to explore her own ethics.

Ange encounters many life-changing events in her search for selfhood: date rape, abortion, dysfunctional family relationships, moving to a different city, making new friends and exploring many ideologies through different activist groups. Determined to join the activist movement, Ange also encounters various facets of the judicial system.

Dr. Bramhall spoke with Feminists for Choice about her book.

Why did you decide to self-publish your work? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Shelf Tagged With: Abortion, battle for tomorrow, feminism, novel, occupy wall street, ows, self discovery, stuart bramhall, teen pregnancy

Unwinding the Abortion Debate in Young Adult Fiction

November 3, 2011 By Roxanna 8 Comments

Currently in production is a cinematic adaptation of Neal Shusterman’s award-winning Young Adult novel Unwind. You won’t find any vampires, talking lions, or wizards here. Unwind is the story of three teenagers attempting to escape their fate: being sentenced to death by having all of their organs harvested.

Published in 2007, Unwind is a chilling look at the aftermath of the second civil war between pro- and anti-choice armies. Taking the current political climate to its furthest logical conclusion, Shusterman has created a near-future in which a truce between both sides was brokered by the government by the introduction of the Bill of Life. Coinciding with the perfection of a technique called neurografting, by which 99.8% of a donor’s body could be used in transplant, the Bill of Life proposed that abortion be made illegal, but a pregnancy could be terminated retroactively when a child reached the age of thirteen. This introduced the Unwind Accord, in which the retroactive terminations would see the children ‘unwound,’ their bodies not put to death but rather into a ‘divided state’ with all of their organs harvested for donation. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Shelf Tagged With: Bill of Life, censorship, Neal Shusterman, Risha Mullins, Unwind, Unwind Accord