MeerderWörter’s Comments (group member since Jan 08, 2016)

MeerderWörter’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Arnaud wrote: "No. She was not there. But we all would have loved for sure haha ^^
She is always there in our hearts and mind when we speak about feminism. ;-)"

She is:) She is very welcome to join us.

Ross wrote: "(Early days, first impressions, no spoilers!)

This book is amazing as is Emma’s perspicacity in selecting it. I find myself drawing parallels with The Beauty Myth where that book covered the machi..."

Oh Ross, oh Ross.
Now your first impressions make me ache to read this book.

Stella wrote: ""...Dreads have existed as long as human's have had hair. Much hair naturally dreads if it isn't cut/cared for. Ancient civilizations used them for cultural processes and they come from all over th..."

Thanks a lot.

Kate wrote: "http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-....

These parents are really transphobic and it is really upsetting! They took their kid out of school because one of the other pupils are reco..."

"The couple believe the school should have consulted all parents."
Please tell me I misread that. Please...
It's difficult enough for trans kids as it is, that only makes it worse.

Arnaud wrote: "Second little bunch of badges sent to people who asked.
I will do another one next month. :-)"

Thanks a lot!

Thalia (Austria and Germany) have it in English as:
audio
paperback
e-book

Amazon Germany has both Hunger and Bad Feminist as paperbacks (and both are best-sellers:) ); as well as Audio, Kindle and Hardback.

I'll see when I can get around a book shop to buy a copy for myself:)

Eva wrote: "It's still not translated in my mother language, so there's very little chance to get it in my country. Amazon is too slow, so I think I have to skip this book for a while. :("

And also look in the Pay-It-Forward topic. Someone can send you a copy.

Agnes wrote: "Is the paper one sold out on amazon I think. I brought the book yesterday and was still on sale and now is not ."

Wow, if OSS did this, then this shows us how powerful we are.

Elsa wrote: "#204,430! Way over your 100,000. Might need to change that.

I'm new and love the book sharing that Emma does. I going to try to do one book a month and get Oklahoma City USA involved.

I also just..."

This topic was created when we first hit 100.000 members. Of course everyone knows we are more now.
And welcome to OurSharedShelf, what you want to do is awesome.

Eddline wrote: "I wish there had been awareness of feminism when I was in high school. I would have loved to discuss about it with friends and teachers. But my school wasn't even fond of it, nor did they encourage..."

Well, now you have the whole of OSS!
I am really sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience in your high school. So sad that they still exist, these places.

Sanjana wrote: "Cultural appropriation is tricky and the line that divides what is or isn't cultural appropriation is very fine. But I think two aspects that matter here are respect and understanding. If a person ..."

When I began my last comment that was before Sanjana has posted hers. She explained it way better than I did.
It is about respect, and not faking something, not taking something out of context.
Here is a good episode of Native Trailblazers on Cultural Appropriation, which was where I first learned about it:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nativetr... (They're also on iTunes, and the show is free)

And while I'm at it, I am posting the link to the true story of Pocahontas as well:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nativetr...
But I need to give out a content warning: The true story of Pocahontas contains rape, death and other hard issues.
It's NOT the Disney story, because that is simply not true!

Sanjana wrote: "Cultural appropriation is tricky and the line that divides what is or isn't cultural appropriation is very fine. But I think two aspects that matter here are respect and understanding. If a person ..."

When I began my last comment that was before Sanjana has posted hers. She explained it way better than I did.
It is about respect, and not faking something, not taking something out of context.
Here is a good episode of Native Trailblazers on Cultural Appropriation, which was where I first learned about it:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nativetr... (They're also on iTunes, and the show is free)

And while I'm at it, I am posting the link to the true story of Pocahontas as well:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nativetr...
But I need to give out a content warning: The true story of Pocahontas contains rape, death and other hard issues.
It's NOT the Disney story, because that is simply not true!

Gerd wrote: "Pam wrote: "Black people wear dreads or corn rows and they are seen as convicts but white people do it and they're edgy. Same hairstyle different connotation. That's appropriation. ..."

So, as I r..."

You are right, it is not about inclusion. It is about respect.
When white people use cultural objects not in the way it was intended by the "original" users, then that is cultural appropriation.
Take Native Americans/First Nations for example again:
Headdresses are a reward, something earned, for example the Chief wears it. It's not decoration, I mean, we don't wear the Bundesverdienstkreuz because it's fancy either.

It's about how we use it.

Ross wrote: "09/09/2017 – 21:00 (UK time) Skype report

Attendees:
Quoc Huy PHO – France
Lydia Michael – Cyprus
Shayesteh Khosravi – Iran
Robert Smart – Masseuses USA
Hanna Rodriguez – Louisiana USA
Agnes Sza..."

It felt really strange yesterday that I couldn't join...
Until next week!
Silent running, like a warrior!

Little wrote: "Tatiana wrote: "Hey girl!
I totally understand what you are going through. I'm 15 and a sophomore in high school. I have felt like my voice has not been heard. Though I have been open on my social ..."

That's really sad to hear! For the ones a bit older (like me), maybe you can do excellent work at your university.

Hello Emma!

It's so good to see you again, online!
I will definitely see that I can read these books, squeezing them in between all the other work that I have to do (and like only half the amount I do being online here;) ).

I think you hit a bit close home with this book, I will start reading it soon!

David wrote: "Thank you, Felicia, Ana Paula and Robert.

Felicia; I agree especially with your 'default' statement. Perhaps we can start out by saying "She's intelligent, talented, driven and beautiful."

Ana P..."

Congratulations on the new family member!

As for the Beauty Myth:
We can and will change it - it only needs some time!

I for myself hate wearing dresses and skirts, I am not sure if I even still have some or have donated them all to people who are more happy with them. Same with make-up - my ex-girlfriend applied some make-up on me once and it felt so strange to me (and I felt actually a bit ugly), that I know this is definitely not a thing for me.

The best thing I can ever remember about shaving and middle school and girls was the following: My dad and I watched a lot of cycling races together (I still do if I have the time, there is nothing better than hearing helicopters fly around and see how the cyclers pull through the beauty of France;) ) and therefore it was totally normal for me to see men with shaved legs... Now when I came into middle school and all the girls started shaving I was totally confused, I really was. Why would they shave? They didn't have to, I mean, cyclers shave for other reasons than beauty. I was star-struck that one could actually do it for other reasons than to prevent injuries and that stuff.

What I want to say is: I think watching cycling races as a 4-year-old up to 17-18-year-old might have actually protected me from that part of the beauty myth in a lasting way.

Little wrote: "valerie :) wrote: "Hi Little Duckling!

I'm 15 and I'm going to be a sophomore for the next school year. I totally agree with your paragraph! It's hard and really frustrating when you really suppor..."

I totally agree! We are the future, well in fact we're already a part of our societies, so... they rather listen to us than not. One more reason to go to elections, that's one way to make our concerns heard!

Cultural appropriation is an issue we are facing every day - it is our choice whether we participate in it or not.

I've read this article which I, as a white person, found very helpful to understand cultural appropriation, and it also answered some of my questions what is, and isn't cultural appropriation:
http://reverseracism.tumblr.com/post/...

An article from EverydayFeminism about reverse racism and why White Culture cannot be appropriated by People of Color:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/02/p...

Race is a contributing factor in the oppression of women, and therefore, as feminists, it is our duty to acknowledge the burden that our poc-sisters face, and try to fight it whenever we come across it. Only when we see each other as equals, and don't ridicule each other's cultures and show respect to one another's culture, we can lift this one of many factors of oppression - race.
It's work, but we need to start it, only then it can be finished.

Emma wrote: "Caitlin wrote: "Alix wrote: "After birth these children basically have the idea that "this is for a boy" and that "this is for a girl" drilled in their head. I had a boy the other day who wanted to..."

Well, isn't it because women weren't allowed at sea? That's the best reasoning I can come up with...