Book advice

[ThomCat]

It's time for my next book buying spree. I have a 2 hour commute each way every day so I have a lot of time to read. I am just coming off of a history and theology phase. I'm thinking social theory and criticism is what I'm going to read for the next six months or so. What books on feminism, or about feminist scholars would you recommend?

The authors that had the most impact on me back in college were

Audre Lourde
Andrea Dworkin (Perhaps an odd choice for a guy but she made a lot of sense to me)
Susan Brownmiller

Lillian Robinson is someone I now consider a friend of mine. Her nephew is one of my dearest friends and I've had a chance to hang out with her and read her work in the last few years.

So I'm looking for recommendation about other great authors.

Thank you.

[Book Lover]

1. Gerda Lerner

I myself would recommend The Creation of the Patriarchy first, then The Creation of Feminist Consciousness.

A few of her quotes:

• Everything that explains the world has in fact explained a world that does not exist, a world in which men are at the center of the human enterprise and women are at the margin "helping" them. Such a world does not exist -- never has.

• What we do about history matters. The often repeated saying that those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them has a lot of truth in it. But what are 'the lessons of history'? The very attempt at definition furnishes ground for new conflicts. History is not a recipe book; past events are never replicated in the present in quite the same way. Historical events are infinitely variable and their interpretations are a constantly shifting process. There are no certainties to be found in the past.

• Abandoning the search for an empowering past – the search for matriarchy – is one step in the right direction. The creation of compensatory myths of the distant past of women will not emancipate women in the present and the future.

• Nursing was regarded as simply an extension of the unpaid services performed by the housewife -- a characteristic attitude that haunts the profession to this day.

[ThomCat]

2. Very cool.

:)
Thank you.

[geniph]

3. How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America

That's next on my list. It sounds like the author is making several points that I've been trying to get people to listen to (i.e., that the "pro-life" movement's ultimate goal is banning contraceptives altogether).

[ThomCat]

4. Do you know who the author is?

Thank you.

[MountainLaurel]

5. Cristina Page

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465054897/sr=8-1/qid=1145995789/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0884791-3402535?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[ismnotwasm]

6. Once of my favorites

"Women who Run With the Wolves"
By Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Sometimes it's better to take that book piece meal, as it's an Jungian analysis of common archetypes in fairy tales and aboriginal stories. I started by reading chapters that interested me. Each chapter tells a story, then takes it apart. Her take on "The Red Shoes" is facinating.
Occationaly, when I work with young women trying to recover from addiction, I read "The Ugly Duckling to them. I've not been able to read the end (Where the duckling finds he's a Swan)without tearing up yet. (I one of those "I never cry" types--well I used to be. I give it up)

[ThomCat]

7. That sounds like a great book.

I've got a bunch of books on mythology, folklore and fairy tails on my bookshelves. This might add some really good depth.

btw: For people interested in mythology. Diana Paxon has some excellent retellings of classic myths from a very feminist-influenced perspective.

[noamnety]

8. I just ordered this

http://stangoff.com/?p=271 (ignore the comments there which relate back to when it was being distributed as a pdf file)

I know he's a big fan of Dworkin.

[ThomCat]

13. Please post some feedback when you get it.

It looks like it might be awesome, but written in perhaps a less-than-accessible way.

I don't mind tossing in some dense reading, but it's nice to get some idea in advance what kind of writing is in a book.

[noamnety]

16. I've read some other stuff he's written

and 98% of it was warm, engaging, very readable. Samples of his other writing:

http://www.counterpunch.org/goff11142003.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1932360123/ref=sib_fs_top/002-4746776-2043206?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00F&checkSum=NWgWnvuIRlU7Jd1aOS7UukPYXFyy1VIyForkOJbPPOA%3D#reader-page


the other 2%, though, in the interest of full disclosure, was the thing that prompted this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=341x6931 :D

[BlueIris]

9. You might also page back until you find the book thread we had in '05.

"Feminism 101: Core Texts?"

And though she isn't a feminist scholar and her books are fiction, I would highly recommend the novels of Jean Hegland, for an inside look at the secret lives of American women that I've never encountered anywhere else as a reader or a woman. Her writing is elegant, streamlined and accessible. Once you finish her works, you will have a perspective on women that about 70% of this society lacks.

[noamnety]

10. Here's the link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=341&topic_id=106

and one more thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=341&topic_id=109

[ThomCat]

11. Thank you very much for those links!

I'm kind of surprised at how many of those I already own. I didn't think I had much.

But there's definitely a lot I have never seen or heard of before.
:)

[ThomCat]

12. Thank you, everyone

for all these great suggestions.

I hope other people are looking at this thread and expanding their reading lists too.
:)

[lukasahero]

14. Hee

why do you think I'm not contributing to it - I'm too busy gleaning good sources from it! }(

[Marie26]

15. They are great suggestions

It's inspired me to read some of these great authors.

[antigone382]

17. The Mismeasure of Woman, by Carol Tavris

It's from 1992, but it's still incredibly relevant. It changed the way I think of feminism and women's rights. I don't know if you'll find it in any book stores, but I've seen it for sale on Amazon, if you do online shopping.

[ThomCat]

18. I've heard of that one, and seen it referenced,

but I've never read it. Good suggestion. :)

[ThomCat]

19. The End of Capitalism (as we knew it)

I'm currently reading "The End of Capitalism (as we knew it): A Feminist Critique of Political Economy" by J.K. Gibson-Graham. (Julie Graham and Katherine Gibson)

("J.K. Gibson-Graham" seems like an odd way to present the names of the two authors. Does anybody know anything about this style and why it is used?)

This book has a lot of good ideas and commentary in it, at least as far as I am into it so far. The ideas that are presented about encouraging non-capitalist economies and finding ways to express the value uncompensated laber are interesting and seem well founded.

I'm finding this intersting and challenging. I'll definitely have something to say after I've read the entire book and digested it a bit.

But,

It looks like they are trying to impress readers with their eloquence as much as with their ideas. They use language that is unnecessarily dense.

If a sentence can be broken down into three or four clearer sentences, then it problem should be. There are a lot of run-on and convoluted statements.

The authors clearly don't like english grammar. They have invented their own. It is quite creative at times. This is often used to aid them in cramming several sentences into one (as mentioned above).

So far, I recommend this book, but only if you have some patience for sorting through the language.