WELCOME!
30Aug09
This is the official blog for the online feminist book club: Radical Readers & Feminisms for Dummies.
Take this time to introduce yourselves everyone! =)
Filed under: General | 16 Comments
This month’s book
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Radical Readers & Feminisms for Dummies 
Hey, folks! I’m Chally from Zero at the Bone. I am one of your friendly neighbourhood book club bloggers. A bit about me then… I’m from Australia, I love baking and Doctor Who, I am one of those social justice-y types. If you want to add me on Twitter, I’m @challyzatb. Looking forward to getting to know you all! 🙂
Hello all-
I’m Rebecca. I live in eastern Pennsylvania, love reading, listening to music, cheering on the Phillies and college basketball, doing crossword puzzles and spending time with my four rattie boys.
Hi all! I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. I’m Laura from Adventures of a Young Feminist. I, as well, am one of your friendly neighborhood book club bloggers. I’m really excited to get started and see where the discussion brings us. More about me: I’m a recent college graduate with a degree with Women’s and Gender Studies. I watch way too much tv and movies for my own good. Other than that, I’m just trying to figure stuff out, as I say. You can follow me at Twitter (@YFemAdventures). I’m looking forward to get started with this awesome book club!
Another friendly neighborhood book club blogger here! We’ll see if I’m any better at blogging consistently here than at I’m Just Not Impressed, Waisting Away and on dreamwidth. I can also be found on Twitter with much greater frequency (@emandink). I have a little bit of a social networking problem.
As for who I am: I’m a white cis-woman, married with a 6-yr-old boy. I’ve been a practicing lawyer in DC for 10 years and am an aspiring novelist (along with half the rest of the internet). I’ve IDd as a feminist off and on for close to 30 years – I marched for the ERA against Reagan as a kindergartner. In my less than copious spare time I read an awful lot, collect BPAL, play with the kidlet, garden and watch a lot less tv than I used to. And smash the patriarchy. Let’s not forget that one.
MsEerie here. Never blogged on this format before and slightly discombobulated to be greeted with a ‘howdy’. I’m a medievalist who enjoys reading, writing, and watching SF when I should be spending my time more constructively.
Hey everybody – I’m really excited about this online book club – I have another book club where I meet with friends once a week, and it’s one of my favorite things! Love the idea of reading books re: feminism with other feminists! Hate to start with complaint but… “for dummies”? That’s not how I identify myself. (: How about just “Radical Readers”?
Woosh, piecesofstring here. I just started blogging about two weeks at, you guessed it, Pieces of String, http://piecesofstring.wordpress.com/ . I’m so excited to get started with this book!
Hey everyone! I’m L, or Lacey (I’ll respond to either). I write at Editorializing the Editors and I tweet under the pseudonym lazerbug. I teach college writing for a living, which I love, and I’m also a semi-pro musician (i.e., I get paid gigs here and there). When I have the time, I read a lot of non-fiction — I’m currently obsessed with Simon Winchester and his obsession with travel and geology. Looking forward to following along in these conversations — I’ll join in when I have the time, but for this first book, I’ll be on the sidelines. 100+ students and their many essays = no time for anything!
Hey everyone, I’m Ash. I’m a domestic abuse social worker and live in Co. Durham, England. I’m on maternity leave at the mo and baby is due in three weeks – eeeekkk!! I love reading and I love feminist debate so this bookclub seems the perfect opportunity for me to keep in touch with both whilst I’m off work – hurray!
Hi i’m Stephanie from http://dontdanceherdownboys.blogspot.com/. I’m a young feminist living in London who has just graduated from University and needs something to fill her days. I’m really excited about the online book club. I have always wanted to read Persepolis but I never got round to it. I look forward to debating it with you guys.
Hi I’m Sarah, a means-well-but-hates-marking English teacher in Sussex. I read whenever I can and often when I really shouldn’t (walking along streets, during romantic dinners, when I have important deadlines …). I’m really looking forward to discovering more feminist writing through this group and it’s always good to have a few friendly feminists to discuss things with! I am supposedly a blogger but have neglected this shamefully for almost a year, so I won’t give any links until I have rectified that!
Hey y’all. I’m Genevieve from http://unefemmepluscourageuse.blogspot.com“>UneFemmePlusCourageuse. I’m from an college English major from Cleveland, I’m obsessed with pomegranates, and I consider Mary Wollstonecraft to be my personal lady and savior. A lot of what I read is feminist writing, and I’m also working on my own novel, which is focused on the lives of abortion clinic workers.
Hmmm…I really screwed up that link…
Hi everyone, I’m Rosie from Spare Candy. My apartment is ridiculously packed with books, everywhere, and I can’t wait to add more to those piles. Somehow or other, this is the first book club of any kind I’ve taken part in. Looking forward to great discussions with you all!
Hello You Amazing Women/Feminists–I’m really looking forward to some good discussions. I read Persepolis 1 a few years ago and saw the movie about a year ago. The movie pulled me in deeper than the book (and you know where I saw it? At a sushi restaurant! They were showing it at the bar!), and now I’m returning to the Complete Persepolis with a better appreciation of the graphic novel art form.
How is reading this story in cartoon/graphic novel style affecting our reading of it? I read all the time, plus do research, plus read many books at once. I reach for a particular book from my gut, as in “What do I need right now?” Sometimes I want something extremely mentally challenging, sometimes I don’t.
Two things I notice about my reading of Persepolis: the use of black and white graphics and a soft-edged artistic style make it easier to digest disturbing material. Second, when my eyes are tired, I reach for audio books, and now that Persepolis is hanging around my house, I find myself reaching for it with an expectation of relief. I know the subject is not comedy, but the use of simplified black and white imagery feels soothing to me…
I’m a very visual person, capable of losing myself in any high-contrast, gestural, black-and-white art form, like calligraphy. Persepolis is activating my visual brain in a way that reading usually doesn’t.
How about you? Are you noticing any of these kinds of responses? Does the material feel less real, or less upsetting, because of the form? Any thoughts or part-thoughts on this will be appreciated.
Hi, everyone:
I’m Beth, and I blog at http://historiangonemad.blogspot.com (though have been terrible about updating lately since I just gave birth to my second child). I’m a recent feminist, native Clevelander, and am currently working on a Ph.D. in American Women’s History and the History of Medicine. I’ve also been trying to write a novel for the last ten years or so, but that’s another story…
I’ve wanted to join a book club for ages, and am very excited about what we’re reading, especially as Persepolis has been on my to-read list for ages.
I’m looking forward to getting to know you all!