Due to my obsessive Hillary fascination, I can’t help but comment on ABC’s trumped up catfight story: Pelosi v. Hillary. Since Jessica at feministing said it best, I’m just going to send you to her. What’s next? Hillary and Nancy get naked and fling mud? Jeesh.

Meanwhile, check out Reuter’s mini-survey of what some feminist thinkers think about the possibility of electing Hillary Clinton to the White House. (Stop the presses: Feminists, it turns out, aren’t interested in choosing a candidate based on his or her gender.) And note Carol Jenkin’s take on the male-dominated media’s roll in it all. After more than 20 debates, in which only six women have participated as moderators and questioners compared to more than 30 men, Carol asks, “Where is the slate of newswomen who consistently get to ask the big, important questions? How can we not think of what we’re witnessing as anything but the traditional all-boys club?” Hmm…

Finally, if you’re looking for a satisfying chuckle, do check out Ann and Jessica’s feisty letter to male politicians to please stop playing the male gender card, here. To wit: “It’s just wrong to expect men to vote for you because you smell like Aqua Velva and cigar smoke, because you own a huge ranch and the Western wear to prove it, because you think America needs a “commanding Daddy” to torture the bad guys.” Hehe.

Yep, Marco and I have decided to do the marriage thing. We’re feeling rather ecstatic — nearly missed a hurricane, spent a few glorious days on a beach, and are now very joyfully kvelling with family and friends!

I’ve been reading galleys for THIRTY WAYS OF LOOKING AT HILLARY: Reflections by Women Writers, edited by New Yorker editor Susan Morrison. Kirkus gives it a rave review, and I wholeheartedly agree with their take. Here tis:

An exploration of Hillary Clinton by 30 leading contemporary female essayists. Even though Hillary is one of the most dissected public figures in American life, this volume is a worthwhile addition to what Morrison calls—quoting Walter Shapiro, the Washington bureau chief for Salon—“Hillary Studies.” The editor assembles a thoughtful collection penned by writers who represent a wide range of the ideological and cultural spectrum. Among the stellar cast are Katha Pollitt, Ariel Levy, Susan Orlean, Roz Chast, Daphne Merkin, Elizabeth Kolbert, Lionel Shriver and Lorrie Moore. Much is made of Hillary’s fashion sense, as well aswhy it has become such a hot topic. Morrison smartly includes the Washington Post’s fashion critic, Robin Givhan, who caused a storm this summer when she wrote a piece examining Hillary’s rare display of cleavage on the Senate floor. Givhan defends her position by arguing that fashion reflects a public persona—even if it doesn’t reveal who a person is, it at least reveals who they would like to be. Exactly who Hillary is provides the primary focus here, along with the question of why more women aren’t celebrating a female presidential candidate, and why so many find Hillary to be such an inauthentic, calculating figure. The writers also grapple with other questions regarding gender: What does it mean if the first female president of the United States is presumed to have achieved the position largely riding on her husband’s coattails? What’s the significance of a female president in a time when so much about the role of women in American society is subject to debate? Each essay is well-written and approachable, even if they occasionally devolve into navel-gazing. A sharp, important book sure to become increasingly relevant.

The book comes out in February, so perhaps this post is a tease, because folks have to wait. But I wanted to give y’all a heads up, because this collection is just too good to keep to myself. And for the literati among you, here’s a link to one of my favorite poems, actually, Wallace Steven’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” after which, one presumes, the collection is named.

(Image cred: ethandraws.com)

GUEST POST BY ELIZABETH CURTIS

Clearly, I can’t get enough of guest posting here at GWP. But I just wanted to share a cool opportunity with the GWP community – because working with ya’ll has been so much fun!

When I’m not wearing my blogger hat, I’m wearing my program coordinator hat at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership. You may remember Deborah mentioning Woodhull in the past, as she is a fellow at the Institute. Well, this weekend we are having a Women’s Ethical Leadership Retreat at our retreat center in Ancramdale, NY (2.5 hours north of NYC and just a MetroNorth ride away). There are still a few spots left – and I would love to see a GWP reader take advantage of this chance to work on building one’s personal and professional ethical leadership skills.

And what exactly does this retreat entail, you ask…Well! Woodhull offers thought-provoking roundtables on ways to bring ethics into the each participant’s life. Participants brush up on best-practices for communication strategies and learn how to negotiate in your personal and professional life. They discuss how to add balance to a busy life and explore ways to navigate changes – big and small – confidently and creatively. Through workshops, they sharpen tools in the areas of finance and investment. Participants also have the option of joining in a yoga class, hike, or swim and spending personal time journaling or reading. More information about the Women’s Ethical Leadership Retreat can be found at http://www.woodhull.org/womansRetreat.php.

I hope I’ll see you there!

Marc (aka Feminist Dad) posted a comment here the other day in response to my Skirt essay which I’d like to share, cuz I’m going to be writing/thinking a lot about this topic over the next few months for a project I’m working on, and cuz I think his comment is really interesting. Writes Marc:

It’s funny, I have been that sole guy in the audience several times, but I usually don’t think to ask this question [the question being the one I mention in my Skirt piece, “what does contemporary feminism have to say to a new generation of men?” – GWP]. Before I was a Dad, I thought there was a new generation of transformed men. Now that I stay at home part time with my daughter, I have entered a decidedly Mom’s World. I now think the public role for men has shifted to make them *appear* more sensitive. Take for example, the Baby Bjorn. Usually men wear them – at least in pictures – it’s their public role of baby carrying. Does this translate to more time spent at home doing housework or child care? I don’t think so, and as you say in your article, the research doesn’t support it. We seem to have a new generation of men, but one where public and symbolic caring is the norm. Finally, feminism should have nothing to say *to* the men. If men are feminists, then what practices can they offer to support their sentiment?

(Thank you, Marc!)

I found it interesting that on the Baby Bjorn site’s homepage, it’s a dad wearing the bjorn 🙂 Public and symbolic caring and carrying? Or emblem of transforming roles?

Another dear friend, sociologist and sex researcher Virginia Rutter, is revising her classic, The Gender of Sexuality, and is in search of blog, columns, books, and articles to reference in the new edition. Specifically, she is looking for 3rd-wavey writings on contemporary women’s sense of entitlement with regard to sexuality and sexual activity. I’ve suggested Lisa Johnson’s Jane Sexes It Up: True Confessions of Feminist Desire and also (though less 3rd-wavey) Ariel Levy’s Female Chauvinist Pigs. Does anyone have titles/articles/blog suggestions to add to the list? Feel free to post em here, and I will compose a mini-biblio in a post to share with all.

Friend plug alert! Two of my besties are doing very cool things in NYC this next week. On Sunday, Nov. 11, documentary filmmaker Ilana Trachtman will be screening her amazingly moving film, Praying with Lior, at theMargaret Mead Film Festival here at the Museum of Natural History. If you have the chance to see it–and Ilana is touring the country with it this year–do!

Then, on Monday, Nov. 12, Rebecca Wallace-Segall–the mastermind behind WritopiaLab–will be hosting a reading at the Lincoln Square B&N in which young writers from her workshops read from their work. Rebecca has also started a blog with her emerging writers, and is raising some interesting issues about youth, writing, imagination, and culture. For instance, she asks, “Can some video games (violent ones included) sometimes play a positive role in inspiring the minds of youth? Can they transcend their insidious time-wasting, violence-encouraging, obesity-making, inclinations?” Hmm…Marco?!

Cool event going on in my neighborhood today, which sadly I can’t attend. But maybe someone else out there can, and can tell me about it!

Join filmmaker Therese Shechter as she takes a funny, moving and very personal journey into the heart of modern Feminism with her film, “I Was a Teenage Feminist.” Armed with a video camera and an irreverent sense of humor, Therese talks with Feminist superstars, rowdy frat boys, liberated Cosmo girls and Radical Cheerleaders, all in her quest to find out whether Feminism can still be a source of personal and political power. With music by Ani DiFranco, Lavababy, Gina Young, Moxie Starpark and the legendary Helen Reddy,”I Was A Teenage Feminist” redefines the F Word for a new generation. If you, like me, can’t be there, you can still click here to watch some clips from the film.

The Girls Project Film Series
Symphony Space
Sunday, November 4th
6:00 pm

2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York. Click here for tickets and info

(Thanks to Lani–who is debutting her own film, Praying with Lior, in Boston today–for the heads up!)

The current issue of Skirt magazine is now out, and I have an essay in it that begins like so:

As I crisscrossed the country this summer giving talks and reading from my new book, Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild, women in Birkenstocks, girls in flip flops, and ageless ladies with open faces asked me thoughtful questions about feminism, future and past. And in every audience, there he was, too. Often sitting alone, sometimes with his girlfriend, a brave young son of feminism invariably wanted to know what a new generation’s feminism had to say to a new generation of men.

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself of late. Because I’m gripped by the flipside of that question too: Women have changed so much over the course of the past four decades. Have men? Read more

Alison Piepmeier has an essay in it too!

The bilingual parrot on my shoulder in this pic is named Compeche. He lives at the Gallery Inn, in Old San Juan, where we stayed for part of the week, weathering out a tropical storm….

But before anything else, a mongo shout out to Elizabeth Curtis, Alison Piepmeier, and the Catalyst gals (Cheryl, Emily, and Laura) for guest posting in my absence! Elizabeth has been a techy mentor to me these past months, leading me into the wilds of v-logging and elsewhere, and we’ve thrown in to do a panel together (along with Courtney Martin) at this summer’s National Women’s Studies Association–will let you know. In response to the Catalystas’ post, Marco (who cries, bless his male heart) once thought of a starting a blog (or something) called Real Men Cry at the Movies. I still think he should. And Alison is so spot on with her post in trying to figure out where and how the institutional fits in to a younger generation’s feminism, which has been labeled as largely engaged at the personal and symbolic levels. I love Courtney’s response to Alison’s post, which I’m elevating to post space in case you missed it. Writes Courtney:

In an age of social networking where everyone is painstakingly creating a profile of themselves online, adolescents get a crash course in the individual and the symbolic from day one, and repeated entres on a daily basis. I’m heartened that some of these social networking spaces are getting more political, as in Facebook’s cause function, but there is still so much more work to do if we are to reinvent what “social action” means to a new generation of feminists.

I strongly encourage GWP readers to check out these gals’ blogs: A Blog without a Bicycle (Elizabeth), Baxter Sez (Alison), Crucial Minutiae (Courtney–who is currently blogging from her midwest speaking tour). Also check out Alison’s snazzy new website–love the t-shirt she’s wearing, of course!