I recently read in Michele A’Court’s column, in the Press’s Your Weekend (August 14, 2010), an interesting interaction she had with a female bar staff at her local, who announced “I’m not a feminist … I don’t need to be.”The statement certainly made me wonder what the outcome for feminism and women in general will be if all of the younger generation think that way.
I was looking forward to Your skirt’s too short, one of the events at The Press Christchurch Writers Festival. Unfortunately the Festival was cancelled due to the earthquake. It was going to feature panellists Marilyn Waring, feminist and gender rights expert, and Emily Maguire, journalist and novelist who is widely published with articles and essays on “sex, religion, culture and literature”.
- Brush up on your feminism with titles in the library.
- Otherwise Marilyn Waring has an excellent website which includes links to some recent television appearances and
- Read an in-depth review of Emily Maguire’s Your skirt’s too short – the young adult answer to her Princesses and pornstars
So any inspirational feminist texts that particularly made an impression on you?
17 September 2010 at 1:28 pm
The Beauty Myth – Naomi Wolf – had a big impact on me.
17 September 2010 at 1:31 pm
and more recently Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture by Ariel Levy.
17 September 2010 at 4:15 pm
I’m reading “A room of one’s own” by Virginia Woolf. I thought it was about women and writing and although it is that it is also “one of the greatest feminist polemics of the century” (back cover) and certainly worth reading and as Donna said to me earlier the great thing about Virginia Woolf is that is a short read – nothing expendable.
17 September 2010 at 4:16 pm
Oops – here is the link to A room of one’s own
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Catalogue/keyword.asp?TI+room+of+ones+own
17 September 2010 at 9:37 pm
“the beauty myth” and “Female Chauvinist Pigs” sound interesting. Will Christchurch City Libraries be getting these books soon?
19 September 2010 at 5:15 pm
I’m going to see if we can get those two back in, especially The Beauty Myth. A room of one’s own is a good read. Reminds me also of My Brilliant Career though I confess I’ve only seen the movie, not read the book.
20 September 2010 at 11:19 am
The Women’s Room by Marilyn French was my first ‘eye opener’. Others would be Second Stage by Betty Friedan, Revolution from Within by Gloria Steinem, Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach, Against our Will by Susan Brown Miller and of course, The Scum (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto by Valerie Solanos. The last one is amazing in both it’s audacity and it’s lunacy, I have my own original copy on my ‘feminist’ shelf at home. Solanos shot Andy Warhol, and the library has a copy of the movie about the incident, strangley titled “I Shot Andy Warhol”.
22 September 2010 at 6:19 pm
I too was inspired by The Beauty Myth and also Backlash by Susan Faludi which came out around the same time. For a classic there’s also Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex.