Quick Hits

We were interested to read Pamela Paul’s list of academic blogs, “Big Blog on Campus,” in The New York Times Education Life section this last Sunday.  We felt her list of seven blogs that have achieved “blogosphere fame” didn’t reflect the much wider diversity of academic voices that populate the blogosphere.  In fact, with the exception of one female blogger and one collective blog, the rest on the list are penned by white men.  In the spirit of expanding this list, we are starting a list of academic blogs (not just feminist blogs).  This is very much a work-in-progress; please let us know about others in the comments!

Feminist Law Professors

Sociological Images

Mama PhD

The Feminist Wire

Tenured Radical

Scholar as Citizen

The Women’s Studies Program at the State University of New York at New Paltz will host a one-day conference on Saturday, April 30, titled “Green Feminisms: Women, Sustainability and Environmental Justice.”

This year’s conference focuses on the particular dangers that environmental degradation has posed for women throughout the world and celebrates the women who have been struggling against it. The keynote panel features Beverly Naidus, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at the University of Washington; Joni Seager, Professor of Global Studies at Bentley College; and Karen Washington, President of the New York City Community Garden Coalition.

A wide range of workshops will bring together activists, farmers, researchers, writers, educators and artists. Sessions will address a variety of subjects including the work of women in the past who have written about the environment; women’s involvement in movements against hydrofracking, mountain top removal and other threats to the environment; women’s involvement in green construction and community sustainable agriculture; and women’s efforts to sustain food sovereignty throughout the world.

The day will conclude with talks by LaTosha Brown, Director of the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Thilmeeza Hussain, Deputy Representative for the Maldives at the United Nations on the global leadership of women on climate change. Highlights of the day include Trailer Talk, a live performance about hydraulic fracturing, and an Educational Market of local CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) and other farm projects, alternative energy projects and environmental organizations.

All food served will be sourced from local Hudson Valley farms.

Come join us! You can find more information, a complete list of programs, and registration forms at www.newpaltz.libguides.com/green_feminisms.

True confessions: this is what I’ve been doing in all my spare time!

For the past six months, once a week, I’ve been going over to the local rink to learn ice hockey.  This is what I’ve learned: when I’m on the ice, nothing else matters.  It’s that much fun.  Really.

I was a little annoyed that the Today Show framed this story in terms of how the “new” hockey moms (i.e., stay-at-home and work-from-home moms) are no longer holding the hot chocolate but holding hockey sticks instead.  For one thing, there are plenty of women who are not moms who play (a point I made when they interviewed me), and for another, no one asked me what I do when I’m not on the ice.

Despite the rather conventional picture of motherhood that emerges, it’s great to have the media spotlight on women’s sports.  The other women I play with are truly amazing.  And our coach—she’s certified by Laura Stamm (which means something to hockey buffs: I tested it out on my husband), and she’s phenomenal.  Every week I skate out onto the ice, I can do something I couldn’t the week before.  And since I grew up in the middle of the country, where the buffalo roamed but frozen ponds were few and far between, I’ve never been a skater.  Until now.

I’ve been thinking about what it means to take up ice hockey when you’re forty-something and can barely skate forwards, let alone backwards (midlife crisis, anyone?) by starting a Tumblr log, “The Other Hockey Mom: Midlife Musings on Work & Play, Gender, and Parenting.”  I’m writing about the challenge of taking up hockey, the joy of watching my seven-year-old daughter play (she’s one of three girls out of 35 boys), and the anxiety about some of the darker aspects of the sport, like my husband’s recent concussion.  Still playing around with the blog, but come visit.

A mere 3% of books published in the U.S. each year are translations.  An even smaller number of these books are written by women.  What are the obstacles facing women writers around the world?  What are their successes?  Given the different barriers surrounding literary production and distribution, how can U.S. readers find excellent fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and plays by women writing and publishing outside of the U.S.?

Read about the experience of Iranian author Shahrnush Parsipur in the new column Jean Casella (former editorial director and publisher of the Feminist Press) and I are co-editing over at She Writes.  Jean’s debut post introduces readers to Shahrnush Parsipur’s story and her books, which include the novels Touba and the Meaning of Night and Women Without Men, recently made into a film by Shirin Neshat.

Yes, I’m still here!  The twins turned 1 last week and it’s time for me to re-enter.

A quick list of what’s been catching my attention of late:

Rita Aren’s blog, Surrender Dorothy (I’m way hooked)

Stephanie Coontz’s commentary, “Why Mad Men is TV’s Most Feminist Show”, in the Washington Post

The SPARK Summit and social media extravaganza, where I signed books sitting next to Jean Kilbourne, author most recently of So Sexy So Soon and one of my all-time feminist heroines, met her daughter the fabulous Claudia Lux (hire her, people!), and got to catch up with organizer Deb Tolman, who is a one-woman powerhouse herself

Robyn Silverman’s Good Girls Don’t Get Fat: How Weight Obsession is Messing Up Our Girls and How We can Help Them Thrive Despite It

Girls Write Now.  Always.

Responses to She Writes’ Domestic Violence Awareness Month writing prompt

What’s been catching yours?

Mammograms have been on my mind.  What do ya’ll think of this honkin’ YouTube video going around?!

Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards’ ManifestA turns 10, and an anniversary edition has just been released from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.  For a great retrospective, see Courtney Martin’s piece this week at The American Prospect, “A Manifesta Revisited.” And Happy 10th, Amy and Jen!

My book, Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism, has just been released. More about that later, but for now I wanted to let those of you in the NYC area know about an upcoming book event:

Girl Zines at Bluestockings

Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m.

Free!

I’ll do a brief reading from the book, and then fabulous zine creators Ayun Halliday, Victoria Law, Jenna Freedman, and Lauren Jade Martin will read from some of their zines.  Someone from BUST will also be there.

Here’s how Bluestockings is advertising the event:  The East Village Inky… Mend My Dress… Dear Stepdad… I’m So Fucking Beautiful… In the past two decades, women have produced 1000’s of unique zines which serve as engaged and tangible evidence of the third wave feminism. Join Alison Piepmeier for a reading and discussion of her book “Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism,” which explores these quirky, personalized booklets and the meaning of being a revolutionary girl.

I would love to see Girl with Pen readers there!

Do check out Lynn Harris’ commentary on the outburst(!) of edgy teen feminist blogs, like Julie Zellwiger’s TheFBomb. I’m quoted! And feeling old 🙂

Friend of GWP Marcia Yerman has a great piece up at HuffPo today on “Women Who Tech” (hint: she mentions www.shewrites.com at the end!)