The F-word discussion
INTRODUCTIONS
Hi, I'm Sohvi, feminist geek from Finland. I'll be soon graduating from university (cultural history, archaeology and museum studies, among other things) and after that I hopefully have time to read novels again!
I still read a lot of non-fiction (archaeology and history, mostly) but I really miss reading novels. I'm also incredibly picky reader. So I hope that I can find more feminist books via this group, since I do feel like I've seen and read enough books where female characters are merely support characters or prices to be won by the male lead.
I still have my MA thesis to finish, so might take a while for me to be an active member in the group, but I'm really happy that a group like this exists!
Mod
Hi Sohvi and welcome to the group! So glad to have you join us! I agree with El, what a fascinating area of study you have!
Sohvi wrote: "Hi, I'm Sohvi, feminist geek from Finland. I'll be soon graduating from university (cultural history, archaeology and museum studies, among other things) and after that I hopefully have time to r..."
I'm just happy to meet a "feminist geek from Finland" who reads archaeology for leisure. Good luck with your studies!
Thank you everyone! Nice to feel welcomed! I assume most of the members of this group (and probably most of the Goodreads users in general) are from the other side of the Atlantic? If anyone is interested in my study subjects or Finnish literature (not that much of it is translated to English, sadly. Especially not the feminist ones.) feel free to message me!
I am a 36 year old, straight, white, married, law student (I do criminal defense and prisoner advocacy stuff) at Northeastern University in Boston (graduating soon!). I read a lot of literature, leftist politics, philosophy, social commentary, history, and crime. I think I first became interested in feminism when I lived in Zen Buddhist communities for several years, in California and Texas, b/c I found myself living with a lot of women. I've not read widely in feminist thought, but one of my favorite feminist books is "Pornland: How Porn Has Highjacked Our Sexuality," by Gail Dines. As a well-educated fellow who finds it very rewarding to read widely, I find it disconcerting how few of the books I have read are written by women, as compared to the number of books I have read written by men. Hopefully this group can help me rectify this matter.
One of my resolutions for 2016 is to start keeping track of the books I read, which is why I'm now becoming active on Goodreads. Looking forward to reading and discussing February's book(s) with all of you!
(Also, I'm on Twitter: @TRVR1979.)
Welcome to the group Trevor, it's great to have you here!
Alexa wrote: "Welcome to the group Trevor, it's great to have you here!"Thanks!
Trevor wrote: "I am a 36 year old, straight, white, married, law student (I do criminal defense and prisoner advocacy stuff) at Northeastern University in Boston (graduating soon!). I read a lot of literature, le..."Hi, Trevor. Welcome to the neighorhood. I'm new, too, but I need to respond because I'm a straight, white, married lawyer who spent many years doing "criminal defense and prisoner advocacy stuff."
A few years ago I started keeping a list of books I read, including a short description and thoughts. Now I dress them up better and post them as reviews on Goodreads, two for the price of one.
Eric wrote: "Hi, Trevor. Welcome to the neighorhood. ..."Hi Eric! Nice! I just checked out your website. Looks like you've had quite a career! Here in Massachusetts, there's ongoing litigation about prison phone rates. Looking forward to seeing your book reviews and discussing "F-word" books with you.
Hi Liz! Welcome, we're so glad to have you here! "Flaming" means being rude, insulting, or using personal attacks and vulgar language, typically in an on-line situation. I'm glad to say I can't remember ever seeing any such behavior here!
Mod
Hi Liz, I'm glad I'm not the only one who found my way here from Our Shared Shelf. I had been a Goodreads user in name only and when Emma Watson announced the club, I discovered a whole world of book clubs on here. I was disappointed that I hadn't discovered this sooner! I think between this club and OSS, there are two very different experiences, equally interesting. There are definitely some intense debates happening over there. This board is more chill.
Hello! I'm glad to have discovered this club.I have only registered at goodreads a couple of days ago. And I'm only actually reading any books (yet), believe it or not. In childhood and my teen years I was an avid reader, until I discovered two authors who led me to abandon reading books for more than 15 years...
The first author was Robin Hobb. In my third-world country it was difficult to find anything good to read, but I was lucky enough to encounter Robin Hobb's translations once and I couldn't look at books the same way anymore. In comparison, all fantasy, sci-fi and mystery books I've read before were shallow and artificial. Her characters were so real! Her books felt like I was reading classic books at school again.
The second author is unknown in the Western world, Sapkowsky, but my country got a translation from Polish of one of his book series. I got ahold of it and here's when it started getting interesting. Mind you, I knew nothing about feminism back then. His books were fantasy books about a man who slept with women, however, the women in the books slept with men for fun, too! That shocked me. Many other readers in my country judged women in his books "shameless", and I realized they were employing double standards and felt angry. The books had a secret political society led by poweful women and a young protagonist girl who was bisexual and abhorred the idea of having children. Apart from those social subversions, the books were way ahead of their time in terms of literary quality. They didn't just subvert traditional values, they subverted every fantasy trope I've ever seen.
After reading these two authors, I refused to read anything below their quality anymore. I wanted the characterization quality of Robin Hobb in a book that respects women and doesn't fall on the tropes for its plot. Long story short, I didn't find any, so I stopped reading.
But now that I've seen the trend of female authors and female characters appearing in movies and games as main leads, I realized that something must've changed in the literary world, as well, and discovered this site and then this group. I hope to find great books here that will rekindle my long dead reading hobby.
Welcome Hellen! It's wonderful to have you join us!What a painful story! To think that you couldn't find any other good writers to read is just agonizing! Robin Hobb is one of my favorite authors, so I do know what you mean though. I hope we help you find some other great authors to read here!
Thanks for your welcome! I think half of the reason I couldn't find good books was not knowing where to look for them. There were no people around who'd have similar wishes and tastes, so it was useless to ask for recommendations. But now I have Internet, so it's suddenly easy to discover new books, even merely googling is already a godsend, I just wish I thought sooner about it. All this time I've been using Internet to find news about other stuff :)
Hi! *waves* I am Anya. I am from India; I have been a feminist since my late teens. I am presently working towards my Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering. I am a complete book nerd, I love animals and learning languages.I am a person of colour and a bisexual and I'd really love to read more books which focus on female sexuality, gender equality, women studies etc etc. Goodness knows that I need to read more feminist books.
My first feminist book was Jane Eyre (I think?). I was quite young at that time and couldn't fully grasp what the novel signified on the bigger level. And then in 2011, I read The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. Oh, my gosh what a glorious experience it was! That book introduced me to so many wonderful things and I am immensely grateful for that.
I absolutely hate it how women are made to feel bad about their feminity, how the female sexuality is looked down upon, how sometimes we are not taken seriously because we are women. I hope things change in the future.
Well, that's me and some of my thoughts! I wish you all a wonderful week and warmth.
xo Anya
Hi Anya! It's so wonderful to have you here! I hope our group reads give you some of the same pleasure!
I am Heather, currently in school and i feel bad because i don't check goodreads as much as i should therefore i might not read all the books but i will try my best to read as many as i can! Also it is super late at night sorry for any typos :-)
Hi! I'm Maria, a gender-fluid-identifying recent college grad who is trying to make up for all those years of only reading science texbooks. I noticed as early as my preteen years that I had a strong preference for female authors and female protagonists, which served as my role models growing up as a girl. Some of my favourite feminist authors are Margaret Atwood and Ursula LeGuin and I especially love how the latter expresses the mutability of traditional gender roles, and how this can be used to subvert domination. I read mostly fantasy and science fiction, an unfortunately male-dominated field, so I am always looking for good examples of feminist fiction in these genres!
Mod
Welcome, Heather! Don't worry - school comes first. :) We look forward to your thoughts whenever you have time share them with us.
Mod
Hi, Maria! I love Margaret Atwood too - I had a chance to see her talk last fall and she signed my falling-apart copy of The Handmaid's Tale and I nearly peed my pants with glee. She was lovely and charming. I like most of what I've read by Le Guin as well, though would say The Left Hand of Darkness was probably my favorite (so far), for exactly the reasons you mentioned as to why you enjoy her writing. I thought all of that was so well done in that book.
Looking forward to your thoughts in this group too!
Welcome Heather and Maria! It's great to have you here!
Hi, I'm an indie writer and just wanted to say hallo! Looking forward to meeting you all :) cheers Stevie
Hi Stevie, glad to have you join! Welcome!
Alexa wrote: "Hi Stevie, glad to have you join! Welcome!"Thanks Alexa! :)
Hi all, I was looking for feminist groups and found this one. Sassy name, I like it :) Your bookshelf so far looks fantastic and I seem to have added some of them to my TBR already.I'm from Finland, too, although of the language minority. I've lived abroad for about eight years in total, in a few European countries, but would love to spend some time elsewhere also.
We have a Rodin exhibition in Ateneum in Helsinki currently, and I kept asking myself why I've never heard of the women, who worked with him. Two were Finns in fact, yet this was the first time I heard their names. Our history books are equally dreadful when it comes to for instance science, and while most of us might have heard of Marie Curie by now, basically all the other ones are a bit ignored still. Seems we have our work cut out :)
Aglaea wrote: "Hi all, I was looking for feminist groups and found this one. Sassy name, I like it :) Your bookshelf so far looks fantastic and I seem to have added some of them to my TBR already.I'm from Finla..."
Hi and welcome, everyone!! Aglaea, I'm currently reading this book, Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World, and the author purposefully omits Madame Curie because she (the author) thinks that Ms. Curie has become the token science girl that all people fall back on when talking about women in science. The book itself is wonderful though, and one I think needs to be owned as it is really a very good list of women I need to read more books about and by! I would recommend it to anyone interested in women in science.
Anita wrote: "Aglaea wrote: "Hi all, I was looking for feminist groups and found this one. Sassy name, I like it :) Your bookshelf so far looks fantastic and I seem to have added some of them to my TBR already...."
Thanks for the welcome :) Warms my heart. I added the book to my TBR and while it seems like a rather short intro to each woman, that is also the starting point only for much further research. Very happy!
Hi Aglaea! It's great you've decided to join us - do jump into any of our discussions!
Hi Y'all! My name is Rachel, and I live in Dallas, TX. I have always identified myself as a feminist, and an a huge advocate for women rights. So happy I have found this group, and can't wait to discuss with each, and every one of you. I have my own Goodreads group as well called The Banned Book Society. Check it out! You can friend me as well, or recommend books. My nose is constantly in a book.P.S. Love listening to the podcast - Stuff Mom Never Told You. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend it.
Hi Rachel! So glad to have you here! Looking forward to discussing books with you!
Hi, my name is Jacky and I'm 23 years old and from Germany. I'm quite new to feminism-groups, but always had my point in that topic. For I'm obsessed with reading, I thought that's the best idea ever - get active, learn more, and ... read!
I'm really looking forward to discuss with you all, discover new books that deal with it in any way and of course to meet new people :)
Hi, nice group!I am an author (let's use the term loosely), I am also disabled.
I was really ill a few years ago and consumed huge quantities of books to wile away the hours.
I found that, having a thing for historical fiction, and romance (I know, I know) I was disappointed in the characterization of women. So I thought I'd write want I wanted to read. It also served as therapy, which helped me deal with the (insert expletive here) that was is life.
I'm looking to connect with like minded people, as I'm in a pretty bad place right now, and a friendly hi, might make a difference.
So HI.
Mod
Alice, I am sorry to hear about your struggles. I'm glad reading and writing has been able to help you, and I hope they both continue to be therapy for you. I hope you join us in some of our group reads. I think we have a good group of readers here, with a wide variety of experiences and voices. I hope you jump into the conversations and that you feel comfortable here so that the bad place you're in right now gets a little less bad. :)
El wrote: "I've missed a few introductions! Welcome, Justin, Jacky, and now Alice. I hope you all enjoy the discussions.Alice, I am sorry to hear about your struggles. I'm glad reading and writing has been ..."
El wrote: "I've missed a few introductions! Welcome, Justin, Jacky, and now Alice. I hope you all enjoy the discussions.
Alice, I am sorry to hear about your struggles. I'm glad reading and writing has been ..."
Thanks El, today that means a lot.
Justin wrote: "Hi, Justin here. Happy to be a part of this group. My mom was a very active feminist and I think she instilled a lot of her important ideals about feminism in me. :)"Hi Justin, we're so glad to have you here! A second-generation feminist is always a joy!
Jacky wrote: "Hi, my name is Jacky and I'm 23 years old and from Germany. I'm quite new to feminism-groups, but always had my point in that topic. For I'm obsessed with reading, I thought that's the best idea ever - get active, learn more, and ... read!
I'm really looking forward to discuss with you all, discover new books that deal with it in any way and of course to meet new people :)..."
Jacky, it's such a pleasure to have you join us! I agree, it's a pretty clever concept! I hope you have lots of fun here!
Alice wrote: "Hi, nice group!I am an author (let's use the term loosely), I am also disabled.
I was really ill a few years ago and consumed huge quantities of books to wile away the hours.
I found that, having a thing for historical fiction, and romance (I know, I know) I was disappointed in the characterization of women. So I thought I'd write want I wanted to read. It also served as therapy, which helped me deal with the (insert expletive here) that was is life.
I'm looking to connect with like minded people, as I'm in a pretty bad place right now, and a friendly hi, might make a difference.
So HI."
Alice, HI! I'm so glad you found us! I see that topic of "can feminists enjoy romance?" come up over and over again - I know there's a thread for it in our book discussion folder. Do jump into that discussion, or any of the others, or just chat - we're so happy to have you here!
Alexa wrote: "Alice wrote: "Hi, nice group!I am an author (let's use the term loosely), I am also disabled.
I was really ill a few years ago and consumed huge quantities of books to wile away the hours.
I fou..."
Thanks Alexa. I've read the threads, they're really interesting, and I'm thinking a lot about that stuff at the moment. Thanks for the lovely welcome!
I know whenever I'm feeling sick or grim, I tend myself towards romances, so knowing which ones are least objectionable is always helpful. (What exactly that says about my deepest self is not a question I necessarily want to engage with!)
hi Alice,hi Jacky,
hi Justin,
hi Rachel,
and any and every one else! :)
hi, I'm Lily, and I've just in general been fed up with how although women are over 1/2 of the population, we are still treated like some kind of exotic minority. Women have existed alongside men for... since humans existed as a species! Get over it!Note to the moderators-- do you think you could make a suggestion thread and maybe a folder specifically for teens and young women to talk about feminist issues?
LilyCat (Agent of SHIELD) wrote: "hi, I'm Lily, and I've just in general been fed up with how although women are over 1/2 of the population, we are still treated like some kind of exotic minority. Women have existed alongside men f..."Hi LilyCat, and welcome. Your comment totally sums up the feeling I got before, during, and after this month's non-fiction read: Who Cooked the Last Supper?: The Women's History of the World. I just finished it and read your comment, and at first took it for a comment on the discussion thread for this book :) I hope you get a chance to read it.
Hi Lily! It's great to have you here!We want this space to be totally receptive to the needs of its members, so do feel free to start up threads on any topic you feel a desire to discuss!
Alexa wrote: "Hi Lily! It's great to have you here!We want this space to be totally receptive to the needs of its members, so do feel free to start up threads on any topic you feel a desire to discuss!"
Ok thank you!
Alexa wrote: "Hi Lily! It's great to have you here!We want this space to be totally receptive to the needs of its members, so do feel free to start up threads on any topic you feel a desire to discuss!"
Thing is though, I'd kinda like the teen/girls corner to be a folder, and I can't make a folder. Also, I'd like a mod to make perhaps a Debate/Discussion folder (separate from talking points) where people can express their views on different issues.
Hmmm, I see what you mean. How about this as a temporary measure? What if you start up a teen/girls thread and a debate/discussion thread in the Talking Points folder, and then, once we see how much activity they generate, we could make them their own folder? Right now there are several issues in the Talking Points folder that could easily fit into either of those two new folders you're proposing - yet I'm not sure I would want to move them there, because they also fit where they are. How about if we see how it goes with some new threads, and then see what seems to be needed?
Alexa wrote: "Hmmm, I see what you mean. How about this as a temporary measure? What if you start up a teen/girls thread and a debate/discussion thread in the Talking Points folder, and then, once we see how muc..."Sounds like a great idea! Thank you! How can I let people in the group know about them?
The F-word
Books mentioned in this topic
A Room of One’s Own (other topics)The Epic of Gilgamesh (other topics)
Elena Knows (other topics)
Girl, Woman, Other (other topics)
Time of the Flies (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Elinor Lipman (other topics)Allison Moon (other topics)
Thanks! Have a nice day.