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wFriday, January 27, 2006 |
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alternate book readings for women (and random thoughts of mine)
-via another grouplist (bookwomen via herdomain) suggested reading:
"This month, to celebrate the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade, the BookWoman BookGroup is reading The Story of Jane: the Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan."
To start off, I like 'cheesy' women books (like I wanna read In Her Shoes then go see the movie, and I also have Good in Bed (Jennifer Weiner) that I wanna read, cuz they are sometimes (yes, I hate to admit it) "easy" reads. And I know my mom/sister will always hand-me-down those books so I'll have them lying around.
But also, this BookWoman email spoke of the Story of Jane. Okay, so the irony (and maybe it's not that ironic if it's time for communication of ROE v. WADE, January 22, 1973) because of the date BUT for me, i never watch TV (well i watch a lot, but not primetime) and last night on Cold Case (which i never watch primetime) it was about these two people helping with JANE. i thought it was some story for the tv show, then here it is. Real. The next day. In an email. Reinforcing the struggle we have faced.
part II
so anyway, the "anonymous" lady Jane Roe (the lead plaintiff) who is no longer anonymous and is now strongly against abortion after she fell in love with the neighboring anti-abortion Reverend next door. (i had no idea!)
anyway~ here's the book, looks interesting enough
part III
but if abortion is not your topic, i completely understand. more than anything, the topic of the fight for women's rights reminded me of a movie i caught on HBO once at my mom's house while i had also been re-learning my history at my old job at an educational online company.
Iron Jawed Angels - i suggest you NetFlix this if you never caught it on HBO. i'm not saying it's the best movie in the world, but do you know what we went through to get the right to vote...as women?! do you know ANY of your female friends who do not vote?! please tell em: women's rights! (i'm not a big fem advocate or anything) but please, we need to vote, women, vote! we need to see what women of our history did to upturn the wrongdoings of the time. and we need to recognize wrongdoings of our present time and not let "the majority" get away with it, whatever "it" is.
"Oscar-winner Hilary Swank stars in a fresh and contemporary look at a pivotal event in American history, telling the true story of how a pair of defiant and brilliant young activists took the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote."
Alice Paul & Lucy Burns
Women of history ROCK!
part IV
my point? i like light-hearted fiction, intense drama, or nonfiction that motivates me, particularly about the strength of women before my time, who combatted much more difficult obstacles than i will probably ever have to face in my entire lifetime.
that being said, another book i would like to read is:
Reading Lolita in Tehran
the premise of it just makes me want to cry in my chair at work. i take sooo much for granted. i know that. i hate that.
"The group consists of seven women ("girls," she calls them), children of the revolution, greatly diverse in religious and political beliefs and backgrounds, who arrive at her house every Thursday morning for two years in the mid-1990s, take off their chadors and scarves, and talk about books — Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller, Pride and Prejudice. These young women, who outside the class struggle to live under the laws and potential daily humiliation of the Islamic Republic, make it painfully clear that we read not only for the most exalted but also for the most basic reasons. What reader has not compared his or her own love life to Swann's, or her own husband to Mr. Darcy? Yet these books take on added, ironic dimensions when we remember that the legal age for marriage in Iran at this time was nine (younger than Lolita), and that the punishment for female adultery, such as Daisy Buchanan's affair with Gatsby, was stoning."
sorry to go off, but that description makes me want to cry. have i said that already?
Don't take anything for granted!
Jill
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From the good folks at BookWoman
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This month, to celebrate the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade, the BookWoman BookGroup is reading The Story of Jane: the Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan. We think it offers an interesting peek at a revolutionary movement, and the attendant issues of justice, civil disobedience, and women working together in a feminist project. We will discuss it on Thursday, January 26th at 7pm.
posted by
zenbetty at 4:59 PM
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