Pam’s Comments (group member since Dec 29, 2016)

Pam’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Pam wrote: "How is Her Body and Other Parties similar to Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés."

Both books were written by Latina authors.

My question to the next poster is How is HB&OP similar to Hunger by Roxane Gay?

Hello everyone!

I would like to purpose a new game to create connections and insights by crowd-sourcing all of our collective brilliance.

To play... all you have to do is answer the question from the post before yours and then ask a new question to the person who comes after you.

The Theme:
I want to explore how Her Body and Other Parties compares to other books on the OSS Bookshelf. How is this book different from other books we have read together; how is it the same; what connections can we create together.

Let's see how many questions we can answer correctly without repeats!

For Example: My question is how is Her Body and Other Parties similar to Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés?

Please use this thread to coordinate book borrowing between members! Hopefully everyone who wants to is able to read The Poppy War & Her Body and Other Parties.

Please use this thread ONLY for offers of and requests for Paying It Forward. All other comments about the book and where you got it from can be posted in other relevant topics, such as the book announcement at the top of the discussion board.

Our Pay It Forward initiative is strictly with regards to LEGAL methods of book sharing (for example, sharing hard copies or Kindle sharing). Any posts regarding illegal scans/PDFs/file sharing will be deleted without warning.

Thank you.

Hello OSS,

Use this thread to add Feminist Science Fiction & Fantasy books that you recommend to the rest of our community members. I encourage you to take a few moments to write a blurb about what you liked about it.

Books from the poll:

It's no secret that I am a huge SciFi/Fantasy/ Comic Book/ Super Hero nerd. So when this topic was chosen as our first Member Selected Topic, you know I let out a happy squeal. SciFi/Fantasy allows authors and readers to play around with the concept of "What If" in ways that are not subjected to our current sociological constructs. This genre allows us to push past these restrictions giving us the space to dream and to be daring in the past, present, and future.

In the immortal words of feminist Gene Roddenberry (the creator behind Star Trek, a beloved science fiction television and movie series ) "... humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms."

These books, chosen by our members, explore concepts not typically found in mainstream media.
- A grim-dark fantasy book that isn't set in a fantastical European world that addresses the idea of racism and nationalism
- Horrific SciFi short stories that pokes, shocks and smears body identity and ownership in your face

I hope you find special delight in them.

-Pam

Hello OSS.

Thank you for voting for our Feb. & March Member Selected Book Poll. Together we decided to explore the SciFi and Fantasy genre.

Please note: these books were NOT selected by Emma and is in no way associated with Emma. Please read Emma's statement here about her involvement with Our Shared Shelf.

These two books made up 40% of the total vote.

Our chosen Science Fiction book: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. Per the book blurb: "In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction."

Our chosen Fantasy Book: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang "When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising."

Thank you,

The OSS Mod Team

Mathemilda wrote: "Please be more specific. As autistic person I need more information. Where I was not civil and respectful? It will help me tremendously if you can point it out.
If the facts I provided somehow are one-sided tell me about it. I would love to know.

Sure Mathemilda.

You have a very strong voice; one that is demanding and requeating hard facts. In a court of law, in a research paper that would be fine.

But your comments came off as proof seeking against a marganlized person's feelings of being diminished by yet another person denying their right to exist. This being particularly poignant because our Group's founder is so closely tied to JK Rowling- and- who many of us found solace in her imagination.

The other factor of this is that Marina, the person who started this thread, is not the sole voice of trans life. It is unfair to attack her emotions or statements as if she could speak for the entire community. She can only speak for herself.

With that, by quoting her or a post she linked to, to me you came off as putting her on trial for all of trans life. For example, you wrote "hate to break it to you, but people who claim to be be trans" Here you are calling Marina out specifically. By using the phrase "break it to you" it seems as if you are implying that YOU are letting her in on a secret that only you possess. And by using the phrase "people who claim to be trans" it reads as if you are questioning someone's assertion on who they are; you are denying them the ability to self-identify. You may have been couching your answer to give Marina wiggle room to also denounce these individuals. But because this is coupled to her name and letting her in on a secret, it comes of as being incredibly dismissive to trans life and therefore her life.

We can discuss further via private message if you would like.

Again, there are other threads under the Fierce Femms book here that have whole pages of other members asking tough questions about trans life who receive equally tough answers back. This thread isn't the place to discuss trans life but more to see the POV of someone who felt let down and betrayed by JK Rowling.

Thank you

Mathemilda,

OSS supports trans rights as seen when we read Fierce Femms and Notorious Liars.

You have the right to have a differing opinion and the right to discuss why you feel that way in a civil, respectful manner. But at any point when hate speech is used or you deny a trans person's existence your comments will be removed.

This will be your only warning.

I love the thought Peter.

And I think it's a complicated concept.

1) if it's a one time thing: then us printing this off and sharing it with people after the fact is a bit off putting and probably unlikely.

2) if it's a regular occasion (i.e. with family, friends, or people you see regularly) the instances above are probably not the sole times they have occured.

In my own case... I know I have had many conversations with my dad as well as using my mom and brother to speak as mediators or go betweens.. That instance in my story was actually something of a peace offering between him and me. I went into it knowing that it was going to be like chewing glass, but I did it anyways because our relationship was never going to change unless we both tore our down our walls and try to see each other in a new light.

I may have gotten frustrated at his behavior. But at the end of it he also saw me as a professional and not just his wittle girl. We're not quite "healed", but our relationship is a touch stronger now than what it was prior to that event.

Alright everyone. Let's take a deep breath.

Remember that this thread is a response to JK Rowling's tweets and not a debate on the trans community.

Florian wrote: "Just a technical thing. When I go on the new polls and I right click to open the book in another tabs it opens the same poll and it does not direct to the book itself."

At the bottom of the poll before you get to the comments, there is section called: This Poll Is About. Below it are all the books linked to the poll. If you right click those books, Goodreads should take you to the book's summary/information page.

Thanks!

Thank you everyone who participated in our Member Selected Topics for 2020 Poll. here

This post will go over the poll results, what we can learn from this, the two winners, and links to the next polls for the book choices.

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With the write in poll options, there were duplicates and some topics that were related to each other that I grouped together. My apologies if I incorrectly assigned your thoughts to another section.

Results:

Sci-Fi Fantasy 194
Representation of Women in Fantasy 148
Keeper of Lost Cities (Fantasy) 11
353

Eco-Feminism 140
Eco-Feminism 103
Eco-Feminism 71
314

Memoirs Outside of the US/UK 144
Memoirs Outside of the US/UK 60
Experiences of Women outside of the US/UK/ Australia * 1
Non-Western European Authors (Eastern European) 46
251

Classic Feminism / Basics * 135
Intersectionality * 83
Radical Feminism 5
233

Succeeding at Work 86
Women in STEM (especially Computers) 31
Women and Labor Activism 2
Women + Class 96
215

LGBT+ Protagonist Fiction 176
LGBT * 23
In the Dream House 3
202

Sex Workers 140
Pleasure Activism 52
Female Pleasure 7
199

Health & Healthcare 79
Mental Health 78
157

Disability * 82
Disability justice - non white people please 37
Invisible Disabilities 37
156

Psychopath /Narcissist/Predictor violence / Domestic Violence 107
Sexual Assault 34
In the Dream House 3
144

Conducting Feminist Research 22
science myths about gender debunked 74
96

Incarceration 74

WOC Main Characters * 69

Expats / Women Travelers 35
Expats / Women Travelers 3
38

Nordic Model 20

Rise of New Masculine, Sacred Masculine, Eco-Masculine Trading Armor for the Flower 11
Inclusion of Issues related to Men in Feminism 6
17

The Hate U Give 18 Previously Read Here

Stay at Home Mothers 6

Too many choices want to read most of them 5

Radium Girls 1 Previously Read Here


* The amounts marked with asterisks are ones that I felt could be included in any book choice regardless of theme. And I'll do my best to make sure that more of them are included in any future book poll on any topic. The message being your geographic location, health, abilities, race, or sexual preference does not limit a person's ability to be an expert on a subject or as a protagonist as we are multi-faceted intersectional people that can be part of more than one category.

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Ok! Those are the results! Be sure to vote on our next two polls to decide what books we will be reading and discussing together

Sci/Fiction Fantasy Book for Feb / March

AND

Eco-Feminism Book Poll for April/May


------------------------------------------------------

Let me know what you think below.

With love,

The OSS Mod Team

Updating this thread to be in the Miscellaneous Section as opposed to the Archive Section.

Archive is for closed topics.

Thanks!

- OSS Mod Team

Updating this thread to be in the Miscellaneous Section as opposed to the Archive Section.

Archive is for closed topics.

Thanks!

- OSS Mod Team

Hello everyone!

The OSS Moderator Team heard you loud and clear that you are VERY interested in continuing the mission of this book group as platform to create conversations around intersectionality, feminism, and equal rights.

So we want to know what topics do you want to explore next? Would you like to explore a topic:
- that is near and dear to your heart
- that is completely new to you?
- that is something you heard of but never had the time to look into?

Let us know in our new poll! https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

We will take the top two results to be the focus of our books for Feb. & March as well as April & May. Once we the topics are chosen, we will create another poll to pick the books.

So please vote! We are eager to hear about the topics that interest you. Member Chosen, Member Approved. This is Our Shared Shelf.

with love,

- The OSS Mod Team

Continued....


July & Aug 2019 – Solito/Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America, edited by Steven Mayers and Jonathan Freedman

Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian- My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph by Yusra Mardini

Book Announcement: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Watch: Yusra Mardini answers your questions: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

-------------------

Sept. & Oct. 2019 – Beloved by Toni Morrison

Book Announcement: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

------------------


Nov. & Dec. 2019 – Whose Story is This? & Cinderella Liberator by Rebecca Solint

Book Announcement: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Watch: Emma Watson interview Rebecca Solnit
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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In Jan. 2020 Our Shared Shelf paused to reflect on Emma Watson's note that she was moving on to other activities outside of this book club. You can read her note here. OSS is officially dormant. All books after this date with the title "Member Selected" were not carefully curated by Emma Watson nor her team. They were chosen via poll by members of OSS instead.

---------------------------



Member Selected
Feb. & March 2020 - Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and The Poppy War by by R.F. Kuang

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Poll:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Book Announcement:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

----------------------

Emma's Pick (read March - May 2020)

Sex & World Peace by Valerie M. Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, Chad F. Emmett

Book Announcement:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Emma's Interview:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

----------------------------


Member Selected
April & May 2020: Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Elizabeth L. Cline

Eco-feminism Poll:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Book Announcement:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

----------------------------------

Member Selected
June & July 2020: Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China by Leta Hong Fincher

Memoirs or Biographies outside of US, UK, and Canada Poll
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Book Announcement
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
----------------------------------------------

Member Selected
August & September 2020: So you Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

AntiRacism Teachers Poll
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Book Announcement
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

---------------------------------------------
There was no October 2020 book
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Member Selected
November & December 2020: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Feminist Fiction pre-1999 Poll
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Book Announcement
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

------------------------

Member Selected
January & February 2021: Disability Visibility: A collection of First Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century edited by Alice Wong

Book Announcement
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

------------------------

Member Selected
March & April 2021: Indigenous Writers

The Yield by Tara June Winch
Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

Book Announcement
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

---------------------


Member Selected, Emma Watson Inspired
November - December 2021: Eco-Activism

A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis by Vanessa Nakate
How Women Can Save the Planet by Anne Karpf.

Book Announcement
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

----------------------


Member Selected:
January - February 2022
Girl Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo


----------------------


Member Selected:
March - April 2022
Hood Feminism

Discussion Topics: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

---------------------



Moderators Selected:
October - November 2024
It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health by Dr. Karen Tang

Book Announcement: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Discussion Topics: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

David, these comments have been flagged for trolling / self-promoting.

Thank you.

Yep! Hold tight!

Dotting the i's and crossing the t's, as they say, regarding what a mod can and cannot do. Once that is complete, we will move forward.

Thanks everyone! I am so excited to help OUR Shared Self continue its mission as a platform to create conversations around intersectionality, feminism and equal rights.

I'm going to take a little bit of time to discuss with Jo and Team the rules of this new responsibility before I do anything. I don't want to accidentally delete a page or worse!

Until then, stay tuned!

Right: so Goodreads groups has in the top right corner (for those on their computers) a panel that allows for Member Polls, Member Bookshelf, Announcements, etc.

Those are something only the moderators can utilize.

I like the idea of a workaround; opening a thread to a link to a poll for an "unauthorized" book selection. My concern is that it will not be able to go out to everyone as we couldn't send a note to the member population informing them of the link.

Any ideas on how we can solve that?