Feminist Summer Reading List

Today we asked our awesome followers on Facebook and Twitter what feminist books they were reading this summer. Here are some of the responses we got:

Photo by Flickr user: smiteme

• "Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History" by Laurel Ulrich
• "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body" by Courtney E. Martin
• "Sappho's Leap" by Erica Jong
• "Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center" by bell hooks
• "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World" by Michelle Goldberg
• "The Shock Doctrine" by Noemi Klein
• "Woman: Intimate Geography" by Natalie Angier
• "Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape" edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti
• "Impossible Motherhood" by Irene Vilar
• "Gender Trouble" by Judith Butler
• "Cunt" by Inga Muscio
• "Reclaiming the F-Word" by Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune
• "Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism"by Danya Ruttenberg
• "Click" edited by J. Courtney Sullivan and Courtney E. Martin

Picture by Tumblr user: prettykooky

Here are some already made lists I found online:

Jezebel

Ms. Magazine

Autostraddle.com

WAM! (Women, Action, and the Media)

Which books do you think are missing? Let us know in the comments.

New FMF Intern Blogger!

Hola Choices Campus blog, me llamo Victoria! For those of you who do not understand Spanish, please forgive me, I am known for resorting to my first language, Español. My name is Victoria, and I am one of the summer interns here at the Feminist Majority Foundation.

10 Things About Me:

1. I attend a small Women's college in the District of Columbia, where I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Women's Studies.
2. I was born and raised in Maryland, but my parents are from El Salvador.
   
3. I lead a feminist group on campus called The Women's Student Action Coalition.
4. I am passionate about issues regarding abortion and violence against women.
5. This summer I am working with the Campus Organizers, and Web Team at FMF.
6. I love lemon cupcakes. *mmm Georgetown Cupcakes*
7. The feminist authors that have influenced me the most are bell hooks and Gloria Steinem.
8. I first knew I was a feminist when I was: Sometime in High School after reading Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti
9. I have a twin sister, but ironically we are nothing alike.
10. On my free time I enjoy listening to Bob...Marley that is, while doing some pilates.
    

I hope you all enjoy my newbie blogging, I am open to friendly suggestions.

Until next time!
Vicky

Photo credit to clevercupcakes on Flickr.com

It's Hot Outside, Let's Read A Book Instead

This summer is a great time for young college feminists and all feminists around to catch up on that reading list that they started way back at the beginning of the school year, but never got to start because of all the reading they had to do for classes. Well summer is officially here everyone!

The Feminist Majority Foundation Campus website has a great list of some books that would be perfect for a summer read. Topics such as history & politics, global, feminism, and leisure.

As one of the fabulous FMF interns who needs to unwind after a long day at the office or needs some enjoyment during out commutes on the metro, here are some of my favorite picks for this summer.

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

• This 1970's novel that explores how society and the mind of a woman interact. Maria, an unfulfilled actress, recounts her life while recovering from a mental breakdown in an exclusive mental hospital. She was committed for having allegedly participating in the suicidal death her friend BZ. Through the eyes of this very self-destructive young woman and the debasing men she meets, the reader explores a woman, a time, and a society in crisis and how all three components have an affect on each other and cause people to change.

The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin

• I just finished reading this very honest and real memoir by Stacyann Chin, who is Jamaican spoken-word performance artist. Through her inner strength, Chin finds warmth and humor in her nomadic and parentless childhood. The book catalogues her life from early childhood until early adulthood when Chin enters college. Chin's writing style and honesty makes this book relatable to any woman's life, from the pains of puberty to discovering self-identity.
  

The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti

• Anyone who reads Feministing.com will know of Jessica Valenti's new work. Valenti investigate the United States' ever growing obsession with virginity, stemming from biblical times to present day in all sectors of life. She discusses on how and why this came to be and why this fixation of the "virgin" is so problematic for girls and women of today. In response to this fascination, Valenti sees alternatives to this which she describes for a future where women and girls are not valued based on the sexuality, but as people.

Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska

• Being the woman who has experienced the ways of the "old world" and lives in the "new," I look forward to myself reading this book while in DC for the summer. Sara Smolinsky, a young woman living with her Orthodox Jewish family in the 1920s, must combat her strict religious upbringing and her fathers refusal to assimilate. Rejecting the ways of her father and the "old country," she takes matters into her own and leaves home, gets a job, and puts herself through night school. Sara Smolinsky represents the feminist spirit in her refusal to stand for the way things are based on her social situation in search of something bigger and better for herself.

Trash by Dorothy Allison

• Allison's collection of fictional stories about women in the South, poor women, working class women, and lesbians give a voice to the emotional female experience of women at this time and place. Her frank writing style confront the reader with the hard hitting realities of the hard lives lived by these women in the stories. While the content and brashness of Trash are hard to swallow at times, the overarching theme of the book is the power in sharing stories and secrets in order to heal and grow as a community as women.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

• This book is not a religious book but rather the fictitious tale of powerful and influential biblical women that receive little to no coverage in the pages of the Old Testament in the shadows of their male counterparts. The women of this book share their plight as mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, and aunts all within the “red tent” where the menstruating women gathered during their monthly periods, birth, and illness. The pages of this book provide a look into the ancient lives of these women that birthed, raised and married the men that take up the entire spotlight in the pages of the bible. Within the Red Tent, the women offer their courageous tales and share what the pages of the Old Testament leaves out: women.
  

A few other good links that might give you more reading lists ideas are Feministing.com's (Not) Oprah's Book Club posts and a recent article from Women's eNews.

Happy reading everyone! And if you have any other summer reading ideas, feel free to place your suggestions in the comments section of this post. All ideas are welcomed!

Photo courtesy of Ed Yourdon on flikr.com

March to the Beat of your Own Drum--this summer in DC!

• WOMEN

• Empowerment

• Expression

• …Drumming

Combine the above elements in this summer’s the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project's 8-week workshop beginning on July 8th. The workshop is called the Summer Enrichment Program and strives to increase participants' confidence, creativity, and expression.

Participants of this workshop won’t just be sitting around beating a conga, though. The rigorous schedule includes meditation, yoga, team-building, and healthy snacks/lunches provided by Whole Foods.

The conclusion of the workshop will feature a concert for the public in mid-September, showcasing the participants' hard work while celebrating their raw creativity.

Apply Now!

Free summer concerts in DC!

The Washingtonian has helpfully compiled a list of free music performances scheduled this summer. These are tough economic times, so anything free is music to my ears.

Most are outdoors and under-21 friendly, which is cool (and hot). Special shoutout to the Fort Reno summer series in Tenleytown, which took a hiatus last summer while arsenic was removed from the park. It's now arsenic-free, and as of Monday, will no longer be hipster-free.

But that's okay. I'm hoping to go next week, so let me know if you're down!