We hear people say this all of the time, and yet they often go on to express “feminist” ideas and could identify as a feminist. There are many reasons why people distance themselves from the feminist movement. I can’t possibly explain or guess them all. But I can explain the different types of feminism according... Continue Reading →
“I’m Not a Feminist, But . . .”: Radical Feminism
We hear people say this all of the time, and yet they often go on to express “feminist” ideas and could identify as a feminist. There are many reasons why people distance themselves from the feminist movement. I can’t possibly explain or guess them all. But I can explain the different types of feminism according... Continue Reading →
“I’m Not a Feminist, But . . .”: Liberal Feminism
We hear people say this all of the time, and yet they often go on to express “feminist” ideas and could identify as a feminist. There are many reasons why people distance themselves from the feminist movement. I can’t possibly explain or guess them all. But I can explain the different types of feminism according... Continue Reading →
Literary Wives: The World’s Wife
The World’s Wife (1999) by Carol Ann Duffy is the first poetry collection to be included in the Literary Wives Series, during which we explore the following questions: What does this book say about wives or about the experience of being a wife? In what way does this woman define “wife”—or in what way is... Continue Reading →
The Body Projects of American Girls Through Their Diaries
From the first few lines of The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls (1997) by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, I was hooked. I loved the concept of doing research in girls’ diaries from the past in order to gain present understanding of how girlhood and the intimacies of puberty have changed over the years.... Continue Reading →
I Have a Feminist Crush on Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter’s new book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power (2014) is like the cliff’s notes version of Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This isn’t meant as a criticism, but instead admiration. I’m in awe that a man in his 90s with much power and influence in... Continue Reading →
A History of Feminist Thought: The Essential Feminist Reader
This book has been on my to-read list for years. Once I decided to buy it so I could annotate it, it sat on my nightstand for a few more years. I’ve finally gotten to The Essential Feminist Reader (2007) edited by Estelle B. Freedman, and I loved it! It is a compilation of feminist... Continue Reading →
Girls’ Studies: I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen
This week’s girls’ studies post is a critical analysis of the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from The Sound of Music. While my first reaction to watching this scene on YouTube was to sing along and dance a little, I quickly realized the messages that the song sends are somewhat outdated and a little bit... Continue Reading →
Zenzele: Sixteen Pieces of Advice from a Zimbabwean Mother to Her Daughter
I heard about Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter (1996) by J. Nozipo Maraire in the alumni magazine for the College of Humanities of my undergraduate university. In that little publication, there’s a section called “Books that Made a Difference,” and I once had published there my thoughts on Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in... Continue Reading →
Coincidences and Beautiful People
After I finished teaching a seven-week technical writing course this summer, I began an internship in the publications division at my church’s historical archives. I’m interested in archives as a source for my dissertation research and for learning to research in them and handle them. My research is also heavily informed by women’s issues, so... Continue Reading →