The F-word discussion
INTRODUCTIONS
Hi Jasmin - we're so glad you joined us! I do hope you enjoy our discussions and that they meet your needs - I've learned so much here!
Hi! My name is Emily and I'm from Sweden. I'm new to good reads. I joined because I wanted to talk/take part of other opinions about the books I read. And find new literature. I definitely identify as a feminist and think this seems like a perfect group. I looked at Emma Watson's group but found it too big. Now I'll give this a try and have to find the Hannah Kent book!
Mod
Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when girls were girls & men were men & every1 knew their place! Ah, yes, the "good" old days (which of course were only good mostly if your skin was the "right" color, you frequented the "right" house of worship, and always always always if you peed standing up). Oh, wait: we've actually been living like that all along. Well, it's finally happened: something bad enuff to not only make me not mind being this old but to also make me wish I were even older...Thanks for listening, kinda upset this morning.
I know, right? And here's some icing on the sh*t cake of all this: this morning I'm doing my volunteer job at the county library & shortly after we opened, in walks a guy with a big grin on his face who says in a really loud, almost-shouting tone of voice. "Free at last, free at last; thank god almighty we men are free at last!" Can you freaking BELIEVE that?! The gall, the nerve, the, the, the...I can't think of a bad enuff word for that. I was NOT in a good mood anyway but that almost made me lose it...be afraid...be really afraid of the next 4 (please, please; no more than 4!) years.
I'm trying not to comment on any social media today, but I find myself wearing my Animal Farm shirt, and I think it's poignant. Today, I'll imbibe the wise words of the donkey. and one of my professor's left us with some words of hope. he said when JFK was asked what his favorite moment in U.S. history was, he responded with, "tomorrow."
And maaaaybe one possible upside: the price of vodka may go down due to our Prez-elect's bromance with Vlad. Because I think I'm gonna need a lot of vodka...
lol, maybe. also, I hope someone punches that guy in his stupid mush
LOL, don't tempt me; I'm right on the verge of doing that.
Notice how all or most of every1 saying to keep calm, maybe it won't be as bad as it seems, etc. is a white/anglo male? The only exception I know of is an elderly white/anglo female who's very religious so I guess she's waiting for "the better world to come" & not worried about this one. All the others, though? White males, every last one.
I just read the coolest article; (http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/...) it's given me some hope; 1st sentence of the article: "Over the weekend, Teen Vogue published an excoriating op-ed headlined 'Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America.'" The editor of Teen Vogue is a POC named Elaine Welteroth who sounds like she's really shaking thing up in the publishing world. Great article.
Mod
Hi all, I'm June from Los Angeles. I enjoy literary fiction by women. I also enjoy feminist essays but have to admit my feminism is about 30 years out of date, with much of reading being done in my college years! I want to get more up to date, and I'm looking forward to reading and discussing with you all.
Hi everyone. I'm Anna & I've been a member of this group for a while, but due to work obligations I haven't had much time to do more than briefly check in on the group. I'm a professor of psychology and my area of teaching centers upon the psychology of women and gender as well as social psychology. I'm always looking for books that I can use in the classroom to help students become more actively engaged in applying the theories they are learning.
I hope I can be a more active group member in the future. I'm so happy to be reading with you.
Lisa
Mod
What are some of your favorite texts so far to use in the classroom?
Hello everyone,I'm a reader and a writer too. Reading has been my passion from the moment I learnt how to read. I believe in equality between the genders and I look forward to reading good books with you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M175SVY
Mod
I'm a reader and a writer too. Reading has been my passion from the moment I learnt how to read. I believe in equality between the genders and I look forward to reading good books ..."
Welcome, Diana. Please jump in and join our book discussions! We are taking nominations for the first part of the year (no self-promotion nominations, however) here if you would like to suggestion something we could all read together.
Hi I am Eram. Used to read a lot but then too many struggles in life kept me away from books and art. Life hasn't changed much but now I guess I'm used to it so I know how to take out time for my favourite activities. I saw this group on my new Goodreads friend's wall. I'm a feminist and an activist too so of course I had to join this group :) Looking forward to some great discussions, book reviews and book recommendations. Sending all of you love and hugs from Pakistan.
Mod
Hi there! Feeling really positive about joining in with this group. Want to challenge myself to pick up on references to feminism that might be new to me. So being open minded, I am happy to take on board a wider perspective and am looking forward to expanding my knowledge with well thought out debates..
Mod
Hi, I'm Viv from the UK. I know a few of you from other groups by the looks of it :-)I've been a feminist since the age of 14 when my English teacher loaned me her copy of The Women's Room.
I'm planning to join in with this month's read of the The Secret History of Wonder Woman which I have just picked up from the library.
Nice to be here!
Mod
Wow, you were 14 when you read The Women's Room! That's great. I just read it somewhat recently and thought it was fantastic. I'm glad it made an impression on you at that age.
Looking forward to your thoughts on The Secret History of Wonder Woman!
El wrote: "Hi Viv! I know ya from The Roundtable. :) Glad to have you here.Wow, you were 14 when you read The Women's Room! That's great. I just read it somewhat recently and thought it was fantastic. I'm g..."
It made a huge impact on me, and is one of the few books I have re-read several times. Afterwards, I went on to read a lot of the feminist classics, including reading Andrea Dworkin's Pornography: Men Possessing Women over the Christmas holidays when I was 15 or 16. My family were somewhat bemused!! I feel like I have strayed a bit from my feminist roots in reading materials so I'm making more of an effort to read more contemporary feminist books again.
Hi, welcome everyone! I wish I had read many of these feminist books when I was younger but unfortunately I came into it late and on my own. Either way, we're here now :) I remember thinking that The Women's Room was a great commentary on the personal feminist movement within individual women. I'm also impressed that you read it so young!
Another one was The Second Sex, I wish I had read that one early on and referenced it often. As it is, I think it's another book worth revisiting in times of change in our lives. The way she wrote it (as a study really) would make it easy to read only portions.
Anyways, glad to have this group and this company to read with :)
It's a shame you stipulate - after signing up - that you don't allow "self promoting" for many of us are readers and authors wishing to share our own books as well as those by others and enter into discussions. It is therefore an exchange, in the spirit of being supportive - I find that the phrasing of your rules is not. I wonder if you can be authors (or have businesses) yourselves, as joining groups and sharing is a key way to grow and have your work known. I wanted to introduce myself as invited to new members and to suggest my book Parallel Spirals to the group as it is about women's issues.
Mod
The Group Rules were put into place a long while back, I believe before any of the current mods were in fact mods, so we will look into revising/updating them. Thank you for bringing that to our attention.
We do state in our rules that we do not allow self-promotion, but we actually do have a Blatant Self-Promotion folder in our group. It doesn't get a lot of traffic, so it's not on the group's landing page, but people do post there and they get views. You're welcome to share information about your book in that folder if you wish.
What we desire is to avoid having self-promotion in the discussion threads. It can be distracting to a conversation already taking place and generally leaves a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths if someone comes in only wanting to discuss their book, or turn conversations into discussion of their book, etc.
The rule should really reflect that. We have a space for self-promotion and encourage members to use that space; but we would like to keep the rest of the discussions of other books and topics free from self-promotion.
If you have additional questions or concerns, you can feel free to PM me or one of the other mods. (Though I think Alexa is currently unavailable or offline for a period of time.) That offer goes to anyone else as well!
Hello, I'm Raven. I'm a 26 year old woman from Minneapolis, MN, USA. I've always considered myself a feminist, but recently, especially because of what's been going on in the world in the last few years, I've been wanting to delve deeper into intersectionality and how other social injustices like racism, classism, ablism, and LGBT phobia, among others, tie in to modern feminism. I'm currently reading Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, which is a collection of essays, poems, comics, and things from women and men of various backgrounds and identities discussing certain thoughts and experiences and how they fit into their own personal ideas of what feminism means, and I am enjoying the different perspectives so far.
Hi there, I'm Nia. I'm 26 and from California. I've been in this group for awhile now but was finishing up my degree in women's and gender studies and sadly neglecting my goodreads profile foreverrr. I'm very intrigued by the books this group has read in the past and currently has on its shelves. Excited to finally start engaging with you all in this most critical time :)
Mod
Hello, my name is Jane. I'm a feminist and going back to school for creative writing. I really like YA Lit and animation and want to use my place of privilege to further expand diversity and representation in both of those areas. I'm also becoming more active in calling politicians after the election. Other things: I'm married, bisexual, and have an adorable cat who is sometimes a jerk. His name is Catburg.
Mod
Catburg is an awesome name, btw.
Glad to have you! I'm about to go back to school for creative writing also. (I have my undergraduate, but 16 years later I'm about to go back for my Masters. It's very exciting and daunting and, oh, I haven't even officially applied yet. I've just talked to people in the program and there's a mutual interest.) Good to see someone else is going through a similar process!
Thank you for making calls to politicians! It's a rough gig but I get so excited anytime anyone says they make that effort.
Hello, I'm Caitlin. I'm 20 years old and I'm from Cape Town, South Africa. I'm currently in my second year of studying towards my degree in International Relations and Gender Studies. I declared myself a feminist when I was 17 (a bit late) and it's become my biggest saviour and an incredibly important part of my life.
I am most interested in intersectional feminism - with identity and class being topics that seem most urgent in my life and environment.
I am very excited to start reading the books this group has suggested! Hopefully I will engage, too, and not be too afraid.
Mod
Caitlin wrote: "Hello, I'm Caitlin. I'm 20 years old and I'm from Cape Town, South Africa. I'm currently in my second year of studying towards my degree in International Relations and Gender Studies. I declared ..."
Glad to meet you! And 17 isn't late at all - I wish I had been so aware at your age!
El wrote: "Welcome, Jane! Sorry for the late hello; I'm not sure why I didn't get a notification for your introduction, but you are most certainly welcome.Catburg is an awesome name, btw.
Glad to have you!..."
No worries and thanks! That's so awesome you're going back. I'd love to get a Masters. I know it's a lot of work, so good luck!
And thank you - calling is tough though not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I live in a really red state and this has shown me that nothing will change if no one does anything. We can't just assume that the politicians will do what is right anymore, unfortunately.
Hi everyone, I'm Nick.I'm not an active feminist (I don't go on marches or belong to any activist groups) but I am interested in feminist theory and agree with a great deal of it.
I'm looking forward to reading and learning more with like-minded people.
Mod
One doesn't need to go to a march or belong to an activist group to be a feminist. If you support the efforts to achieve political, economic, personal, and social rights for everyone (read: equality for all), that is what makes you a feminist.
Look forward to your thoughts in this group. Please jump into any of the group reads or discussions.
Hi everyone. I'm Rory. I just moved to Baltimore (from Cincinnati). I am a full time nanny and work part time/freelance at a crisis line, transcription service, and construction company. Clearly I have some diverse interests, haha. I love reading and have been enjoying Our Shared Shelf for the last year, but wanted some more Feminist book suggestions. I'm really excited to start reading with you guys!
I'm Damian, Irish living in the US, and I've got two sisters one of whom is a feminist. She and I have had fascinating discussions as we grew up. I think many men feel threatened by women in personal or work environments but I've never understood it.I'm also a writer and I tackle the issue of feminism and strong women in my latest novel. It's a bit unorthodox because it's about a young woman in the 1950s who defies her Mom and sets out to prove she is the equal of any man in the bullring. Yes, the bullring and I know some will hate that but it's inspired by America's first female bullfighter Patricia McCormick although not base on her life. She has to go through a lot of hoops, pain and male ego to get there.
Hi! My name is Akanksha, and I'm from New Delhi, India. I am an undergraduate student of Literature in English.Why did I join this group? Because A) I am a feminist B) I love reading.
I believe that women wouldn't have any rights were it not for courageous feminists who fought, often with their lives on stake, so that we could enjoy basic human rights. So there's no reason why a woman who knows all this would not be a feminist.
Vested interests (read men who feel threatened) have villainized us feminists so much so that even our fellow women are scared of this tag. This makes finding like-minded people really hard. And for once, I'd like to do more than to explain to people what feminism is and why we need it. So I've joined this group with the hope of meeting fellow feminists who read badass texts and dig into the not-so-badass ones to find women and discuss gender in general.
Looking forward to some awesome discussions! :)
Mod
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)
I'm Jasmin from Belgium and identify as a feminist for many years. After reclaiming my life back and working very hard for that during 3 long years, I'm really looking forward to spending my free time educating myself in my feminism.