Carnival of Feminists (No. 66)
Welcome to the 66th Edition of the Carnival of Feminists! I’m so happy to be hosting one again (the last one was at my old blog) - it’s allowed me to read some very interesting posts at a lot of blogs. I’ve tried to include as many (relatively) newer bloggers as I could, atleast those who’ve not featured much at the Carnival before, to the best of my knowledge. At the same time, there are posts from more well-known blogs in the feminist blogosphere. I didn’t have a theme/structure this time, so these posts are just listed alphabetically (author/blog name). Ok, let me quit talking, and give you the goods instead!
Let’s kick of with, yes of course, SARAH PALIN; Could a Carnival of Feminists at this time ignore her? Amelia at the Female Impersonator has a lucid post on why feminists not supporting Sarah Palin is not a “liberal conspiracy” but a very real response to Palin’s anti-woman policies.
The Articulate Feminist lists her feminist pet peeves - a piece that really lives up to the author’s name!
A woman’s ecdysis talks about the “comfort women” abused by the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines during WWII. This is a precursor to the five-part tribute to these women, on her blog, so do read the rest.
Deborah at In a Strange Land discusses “some ordinary old, ever present, pervasive sexism”. You don’t even have to look very hard, do you? Sigh.
Feminist Finance fisks an MSN article that offers lazy science to prove that boys are savers and girls are spenders.
Fourth Wave Feminism points us to why it’s important to keep fighting to uphold women’s reproductive rights. She discusses this in the American context, but I suppose it holds good for most countries.
Harpy Marx discusses the coming together of religion and patriarchy to keep young women “under control“, and the resulting pressure and unreal expectations for women.
Jo Christie Smith touches on the small things that she would like as part of her feminist Utopia, including public transport where men won’t hog all the space.
Joseph Orosco questions whether individuals can really change patriarchal norms by using traditional symbols, yet finding them empowering at a personal level?
Kolbe Franklin at Womenstake discusses the Bush Government’s weakening of programs that help women-owned small businesses.
Lotus Reads reviews ‘The Lost Road to Innocence’ by Somaly Mam, a survivor of the Cambodian sex industry where increasingly, large numbers of children are being trafficked and sold into sex slavery. Just reading Lotus’ review sent chills down my spine.
Marcella Chester at Abyss2Hope discusses how dangerous it can be (and is) to women’s safety because people believe that men’s behaviour is only a ‘reaction’ to how women walk/talk/dress/drink/act/live in general.
Natalie Bennett at Philobiblon reviews ‘Singled Out’, a book in which author Virginia Nicholson narrates the stories of single women in the UK, from a time when it was the worst fate a woman could have.
Rhiana Witson at the Dawn Chorus, which describes itself as by and for Australian Feminists (though the content is interesting to others too) takes on the outdated men-only policies of the Melbourne Athenaeum Club. (Does anyone else find it ironical that the Club uses the name of Greek Goddess Athena?)
Tara L Conley at Youth Noise talks about the challenges faced by female, African-American athletes.
Over at Ultra Violet, the Indian feminist colla-blog, Dilnavaz takes on Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi Chief Minister, for suggesting that a murder victim may have been “too adventurous”. (The CM clarified her statement after people protested, but her first reaction to the incident, speaks volumes).
xJane declares proudly that she is a Bitch and details all the different ways in which she enjoys using the word.
Hope you enjoy reading! I was planning to post this by 8 pm, but I’m doing it a couple of hours early - I have to go out since today is the last day I can visit the Bengali Durga Pujo pandal in town (and hog)- strangely enough, I remember hosting the last Carnival at last year’s Navaratri! (For non-Indian readers, that is our biggest festival of the Goddess/Devi). Happy Dussehra/Navaratri to all of you who are celebrating!
ps : If you do have a post you’d like to contribute, do send it in, and I will try to add on (relevant) stuff, within the next 2 days. For more info on the Carnival, go here.
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This is great! I love being introduced to new bloggers. I need to keep this in mind for my hosting gig ; )
Thanks so much for putting this together and for including me in this collection.
Thanks for including me!
Thank you so much for the linky love. I’ve been a bit under the weather lately, and only just managing to keep writing my feminism, so I really appreciate you picking up my post for this carnival.
It looks like a great carnival - full of fantastic reading. Thank you!
you’re all welcome! I had a great time reading…
Hi Apu and here’s wishing you a very happy and memorable Dusshera!!!
THank you for hosting the “Carnival of Feminists”, I absolutely love the idea and appreciate you showcasing so many wonderful posts for us to read. I am especially delighted you chose to highlight Somaly Mam’s book…it’s important we all become aware of the plight of some of these unfortunate Cambodian girls.
I am now going to visit some of the blogs on your page and I look forward to being educated and entertained.
I found the Joseph Orosco piece bizarre.
How is hijab “protecting women from objectification by men”?
It’s doing exactly what Abyss2hope was talking about - blaming women for men’s behaviour.
“She didn’t cover up, she was asking to be objectified!”
Obvious woman-blaming.
Not meaning to criticise, and thanks, the other pieces were very interesting.
Butterfly - In that piece, as far as I can see, he is not promoting the idea of hijab as protection or suggesting that women should wear it to avoid harassment. He is examining some works by other authors who have suggested that hijab can be empowering if chosen by women and not forced upon them. He is questioning whether it can be empowering simply because an individual calls it that, even while society doesn’t see it that way.
Many, many, MANY thanks for including me! Woohoo! Just like I wrote on my Facebook status: “Tara is pretty stoked that my blog was linked to by a feminist blog. I’m headed for that deluxe apartment in the sky now!”
Thanks so much, means the world to this newbie freelancer
Um, I have no idea how that last comment posted - sorry.
Tara, you’re welcome. I particularly wanted to ensure a wide range of bloggers and issues. And no worries about that last comment - it’s an automatic pingback, since you linked to this post on your site.
Great carnival, well done!