feminist blogs

Check out Gloria Steinem and Women's Media Center President, Jehmu Greene talking to Katie Couric on her web show. I love how Jehmu talks about teen girls pushing back against objectification and who is actually producing objectifying media rather than joining Katie Couric in the "what's wrong with the girls these days?" woe-is-me-ing.

See the full interview here. See the transcript at Alternet.

Check out Gloria Steinem and Women's Media Center President, Jehmu Greene talking to Katie Couric on her web show. I love how Jehmu talks about teen girls pushing back against objectification and who is actually producing objectifying media rather than joining Katie Couric in the "what's wrong with the girls these days?" woe-is-me-ing.

See the full interview here. See the transcript at Alternet.

First-time authors with a nonfiction project in the works? Not sure how to navigate the publishing business? Then you're a perfect candidate for She Writes Passion Project. From She Writes:

This contest enables a hand-picked A-team of writing and publishing experts to choose a book project by a first-time author and to donate their time to its advancement, giving it every possible chance to succeed. Submissions are due August 1.

Deets here.

If you're in the New York area tomorrow, don't miss this event featuring J. Courtney Sullivan, Feministing friend and author of bestselling novel, Commencement, about Smith College life and the real world after:

As Courtney, witty lady that she is, said in her email inviting her crew: "Since I'll inevitably be the worst dressed panelist, I want to be the one with the most friends." Help make her look fabulous with young, feminist buddies.

I know a lot of our readers are folks in the helping professions, and even beyond that, a lot of us are exposed to trauma in our everyday lives. That's why I wish I could buy and send a copy of Trauma Stewardship to every last one of you.

In short, it's a brilliant description of what happens to our bodies, minds, and hearts when we are exposed to trauma on a fairly regular basis. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, the lead author, does a masterful job of analyzing the sources of trauma--both personal, organizational, and societal. Unlike so many books about self-care or burn-out, this one doesn't shy away from a systemic analysis because, as Lipsky writes, "Rooting our concept of trauma stewardship in a larger framework of systemic oppression and liberation theory is extremely important." She goes on to talk about structural violence, which Paul Farmer says "is visited upon all those who social status denies them access to the fruits of scientific and social progress." Indeed.

Lipsky then goes on to detail the 16 warning signs of "trauma exposure response," and boy do a lot of these sound familiar (either personally or via friends): feeling helpless or hopeless, a sense that one can never do enough, diminished creativity, inability to embrace complexity etc. I found the latter especially interesting, as its description was coupled with a profile on the domestic violence movement and the way in which its pioneers didn't anticipate how complicated criminalizing domestic violence would be in certain communities. She writes:

The movement to support women's self-determination and end family violence started down the path to criminalization with the intention of seeking justice and creating a societal stake in women's safety. By paying too little attention to the complexities of the issue, it found itself floundering in an ever-urgent, perpetual-crisis maelstrom of criminal legal response...As a result, the movement inadequately addressed the concerns most expressed by survivors--breaking isolation, building community support, meeting children's needs, and fostering economic stability.

This the level of analysis you can expect from Trauma Stewardship from start to finish. With lived experience, cogent analysis, lots of profiles and examples, and so many practical suggestions, Lipsky has given the gift of healers, activists, and friends (which is all of us, right?) a huge gift.

The always amazing Scholar & the Feminist Online has a new issue on Children of Incarcerated Parents. It's incredible moving.

Dan Savage on Sex at Dawn.

The biggest defaulters on their mortgages are the rich.

Women are still setting themselves on fire in Afghanistan.

Shocker. MTV is still racist.

If you're in the DC area and outraged: JUSTICE FOR OSCAR GRANT! Demonstration TODAY 6 PM Rhode Island Ave. Metro stop.

The always amazing Scholar & the Feminist Online has a new issue on Children of Incarcerated Parents. It's incredible moving.

Dan Savage on Sex at Dawn.

The biggest defaulters on their mortgages are the rich.

Women are still setting themselves on fire in Afghanistan.

Shocker. MTV is still racist.

If you're in the DC area and outraged: JUSTICE FOR OSCAR GRANT! Demonstration TODAY 6 PM Rhode Island Ave. Metro stop.

For a long time, I thought blue balls was something that dudes made up in 7th grade in order to get further around the bases than their girlfriends were comfortable with traveling. Turns out, the phenomenon is real and technically called vasoconstriction. But it's not just the guys who have trouble with, in the words of my old friend Carly Simon, anticipation. This just in from The Frisky:

Medical science has proven that women get a similar painful feeling when we don't get to finish properly either. There is nothing worse then being close to climaxing and losing it; just because we don't physically ejaculate (well, much) doesn't mean we don't get pink balls.

Stupid name, I know. But interesting finding. Let's just make a lady pact that we won't use our vasoconstriction as a form of manipulation, shall we?

For a long time, I thought blue balls was something that dudes made up in 7th grade in order to get further around the bases than their girlfriends were comfortable with traveling. Turns out, the phenomenon is real and technically called vasoconstriction. But it's not just the guys who have trouble with, in the words of my old friend Carly Simon, anticipation. This just in from The Frisky:

Medical science has proven that women get a similar painful feeling when we don't get to finish properly either. There is nothing worse then being close to climaxing and losing it; just because we don't physically ejaculate (well, much) doesn't mean we don't get pink balls.

Stupid name, I know. But interesting finding. Let's just make a lady pact that we won't use our vasoconstriction as a form of manipulation, shall we?

So around the same time that I turned 30, my life sort of exploded. In some good ways. In some really difficult ways. I won't belabor them here, both for the sake of my own privacy (I can imagine writing about some of it once it's good and processed, but not quite yet) and your attention span. In any case, trust me. Life threw me a few curve balls.

So often when I would bring up the big transitions I was experiencing, women friends would nod their heads knowingly (Sami, ahem, Sami) and say, "Uh huh, that's Saturn Returns." Don't know what it is? Trusty Wikipedia's got an explanation:

It is believed by astrologers that as Saturn "returns" to the degree in which it occupied at the time of birth--approximately every 29.5 years--a person crosses over a major threshold and into the next stage of life. With the first Saturn Return, a person leaves youth behind and enters adulthood.

I have a funny relationship with astrology. For most of my life, I've been pretty resistant to it on the highly sophisticated rebel-against-what-your-mother-loves principle. But damn if it doesn't sound wildly accurate sometimes. I'm still trying to crawl my way out of this damn return, but here's a little of what I think I've learned about surviving it so far...

1. Don't be too sure. Life's got all kinds of wildness in store for your ass that you could never predict.
2. Surrender. There's no use fighting change.
3. There comes a time in every young woman's life when she's got to look her mentor in the face and say, "Sometimes, you really suck." And if her mentor is worth her title, she'll be open to that critique.
4. Don't, whatever you do, listen to Fiona Apple or watch (500) Days of Summer. Do jump up and down to Kelly Clarkson.
5. Therapy is good.
6. Trying to hold it all together is not.
7. Sometimes the most feminist relationships don't come in the most radical looking packages.
8. Suffering both humbles and strengthens empathy.
9. A good hair cut is not to be underestimated.
10. Integrity and kindness are almost all there really is.