“The truth is that we are all changing all the time to each other.” It’s not about the pronouns, the denotations, but about context. In the parable that Nelson names her work for, “all of the parts of the Argo can be changed so every part of the ship is no longer the original ship. And yet it’s still called the Argo, much like our bodies and selves are replacing all the time.” – Ariel Lewiton interviews Maggie Nelson for Guernica‘s “Boundaries of Gender” special issue.
“Reluctant to ‘identify’ themselves by any means or terms, categories such as you and I, top and bottom, sub and Dom, man and woman, student and teacher, straight and queer are played with, turned inside out, discarded in the hope of achieving some kind of mutual recognition in the cracks between.” – Hestia Peppe critiques Kathy Acker & McKenzie Wark‘s I’m Very Into You over at Full Stop.
“Aardvarks and Zebras are great and all, but Angela Davis and Zora Neale Hurston are just so much better. And that’s exactly the education you get when you pick up Rad American Women A-Z, a new book written by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl.” – Chantal Strasburger for TeenVogue on “the coolest feminist children’s book.”
This week, Maximum RocknRoll Radio plays 25 songs of ripping female-fronted punk from around the world.
The tumblr Who Cares About Actresses introduces readers to the work of Akosua Adoma Owusu, whose “sharp, fearless films disrupt the colonialist lens and interrogate Western ideals of femininity.”
Jennifer Armbrust continues her glorious Card-Carrying Feminists project.
Louise Erdrich wins the Library of Congress Award.
“The work of raising children… comes with virtually no support. American mothers aren’t guaranteed paid maternity leave or paid sick leave and are offered virtually no help in affording the exorbitant cost of child care. They also face widespread discrimination and a hit to their incomes just for becoming a mom.” – Bryce R. Covert for NYMag with “When Men Want Kids — and Women Aren’t So Sure”
“When she talks about taking on the problem of sexual violence and threats against women, it’s tough not to think about the online harassment women face. Graubard admits there’s no silver bullet to end such behaviors. But she thinks the tech industry has a role to play in solving this problem.” – Bradley Campbell’s “Meet the Tech Activist Who Works for the White House.”
“Her first musical performance in New York was with Graham, in Performer/Audience/Mirror, as part of an all-girl band that was supposed to act out a rock show in front of a huge mirror, and comment on the audience between songs, disrupting their desire to consume the performance invisibly.” – Kristin Dombek reviews Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band for the London Review of Books.
Speaking of memoirs, Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, which has been in the works for the past three years, will be a “deeply personal and revealing narrative of Brownstein’s life in music,” from her early days in the riot grrrl scene and her first band, Excuse 17, to Sleater-Kinney’s rise to the top of the indie-rock world.”
“This new Cinderella is just the latest representation of the ways in which we systematically deny women of color visibility in the media.” – Katie Barnes for Feministing with “This Is Not My Cinderella.”
“‘I mean, they’re putting out their best effort,’ he says. ‘At the end of this, the data will show what the Marine Corps need to do, to move in whatever direction they choose to.’ When asked whether he thinks women can be part of this crew, he declines to answer.” – Listen to NPR’s Morning Edition segment, “As Women Try Out For Armor Units, ‘If You Can Hack It, You Can Hack It.’”
Nicole Disser gave a recap of the Brooklyn Museum’s Punk and the Art of Feminism panel over at Bedford + Bowery. Panel speaker Osa Atoe cited an essay she wrote in 2012, called “Radical Anti-Racist Racism (or “Rarrrrrrr!!!”)” via Twitter to provide some context for what Disser wrote.
Send your proposals in for the panel TRANS POETICS AND FEMINISM at next year’s MLA conference: “How does trans literature participate in feminism? What are the possible conversations between literature by transgender writers and feminist activism/consciousness? To submit a proposal for consideration, send abstracts of 100 words to Trace Peterson (tracepeterson1[at]gmail.com) no later than March 24th.”
What did we miss this week? Tell us in the comments!
