I Made Some Lists!

I have been working on various Diversity and Inclusion tasks at my day job. I'm really excited that they are letting me/us/the committee do this work. Some of the things I've written or been involved with are serious and others are just fun. I like and appreciate both. Last week I made a couple lists to post about Women's History Month and the month before I created a list of books for Black History Month. I thought I'd share them here, because who doesn't want recommendations of great books, movies and television shows featuring under-represented groups.

For Black History Month, myself and other team members shared a variety of recommended books. I've read all the books except for the new releases. 

1. How to Be an Anti-Racist – By Ibram X. Kendi

Part memoir, part instruction manual, this book really makes you think about behaviour, while tugging at your heartstrings.

2. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

Classic, poignant, a definite favourite. A strong African-American woman living her life the way she wants during a time where it was almost impossible to do so.

3. Go Tell It on a Mountain, by James Baldwin

Inspired by his own life, Go Tell It on the Mountain, tells the story of a young black man struggling with his identity.

4. The Color People, by Alice Walker

Probably on a lot of Black History Month book lists, but if you haven’t read The Color Purple, you really should. A powerful novel.

5. The Complete Collection of Poetry, by Maya Angelou

When people mention Maya Angelou and recommend her work, they talk about Why the Caged Bird Sings, but today, we’re recommending her poetry. It is poetry that paints a picture of her life and experiences.

6. Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi

For all the fantasy lovers all there, this story takes place in a fantasy version of Africa. It is filled with adventure and strong characters.

7. Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler

Classified as “science-fiction”, Kindred crosses literary boundaries. Tense and Heartrending, a modern classic.

Now for a few new releases…

8. Concrete Rose, by Angie Thomas

The latest book by Angie Thomas, the author is ready to make another statement about the life of a black teen in America.

9. You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey – By Lacey Lamar and Amber Ruffin

Watching Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar talk about the book makes it a must read. A book that will make you laugh and cry.

10. A Promised Land, by Barack Obama

Another new release and one that this list couldn’t be without.

List #2 - Women's History Month TV and Movie recommendations. It was a less detailed list.

1. Hidden Figures

2. Mulan

3. Girlfriends

4. WandaVision

5. Captain Marvel

6. Wonder Woman

7. Mean Girls

8. A League of Their Own

9. Clueless

10. Alien

Another less detailed list. Books to honour/celebrate Women's History Month. Also put together by myself and a couple coworkers. The books are varied. Fiction, non-fiction. General fiction, graphic novels, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, even poetry.

1. Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly (it was a book before it was a movie)

2. I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai

3. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (Where would monster stories be without her?)

4. Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur

5. Lumberjanes (graphic novel series), by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, etc.

6. Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler (I think I recommend this one a lot)

7. Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More, by Kelly Sue DeConnick (The whole series is good.)

8. Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

9. Becoming, by Michelle Obama

10. Naked in Death, by J.D. Robb

11. The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater

12. The Temperance Brennan Series (Bones), by Kathy Reichs

13. Little Women, by Lousia May Alcott

14. Cat’s Eye & The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood.

15. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

I hope that the people we created these lists for (coworkers) took in some of the titles and watched or read the recommendations. The ones I haven't read/watched were contributed by others who had. 

Ahh! Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters

I had a bit of a difficult time with this week's Top Ten from The Broke and The Bookish.  In fact, I spent quite a few days thinking about who were my Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters.  Eventually, this is what I came up with.

1. Every "heroine" written in the Bella Swan vein.  Every girl and woman that swoons over some guy who is basically stalking her.  Be strong!  This is the 21st Century.  You don't need a man to save you.  Save yourself.

I will admit to enjoying the Twilight books.  Meyer wrote an addictive series, but I really did spend a lot of the time being frustrated with the main character.  I also don't mean to say that Bella is the only heroine that does this.  She's just the most obvious, well-known example.

So, ladies, in the future, please stand up for yourselves.  Your whole life should not revolve around a man.

That's all I have.  I couldn't get past number one.  I'm looking forward to reading the characters on other lists.

Who do you find frustrating?  Do you agree with my opinion of Bella and the swoony female lead?

My Pages

There they are, right up there...

I have two additions I wanted to point out.  My Classics page.  It's all about my journey through a list of  60 classics with the Classics Club.  I'll be linking reviews to that page as I complete each title.

The other is my Opinions/Thoughts/Rants... page.  (I can't think of a more succinct title.  Suggestions are welcome.)  This page is a list of my thoughts on various subjects, including gender, racism and parenthood.  Why do I talk about those things?  Because they interest me, affect my life and this is my blog.  It's not finished yet.  I've been blogging since 2006.  That's a lot of posts to sift through.

I've thought about getting rid of my Coming Soon page, since it is as right as it is wrong.  I'm such a moody reader.  However, I do feel like it helps guide me when I'm not sure what to do next.

I also wanted to mention that the Index page has more than the books I've blogged about.  It also has all of the movies and television shows and theatre productions that I've posted about.

That's it.  My pages and what they do.

What Have You Been Saying To My Daughter?!?!

He's climbing, she loves climbing!

I'm a little mad today.  Someone, perhaps another student, told my daughter that she shouldn't wear her Diego underwear because it's for boys.  Ok, when we take our daughter shopping, for a lot of her clothes, we let her pick out stuff she likes.  When we were picking underwear, it was part of the potty-training thing and we wanted to make sure that she had stuff she liked.  They don't make Diego underwear "for girls".  Whatever, right?  We buy the underwear she wants and all is well.

So, this morning, my hubby is helping our daughter get dressed as I change our son.  He tries to hand her the Diego underwear she normally loves and she says, no, that's for boys.  What???  Who told her it was for boys?  She loves these underwear.  I have to wash them ALL THE TIME to keep her happy.  I know it's just underwear, but it made my hubby and I both sad that someone made her feel bad about something so simple, but makes her so happy.  Bah!

Look!  They're practically the same.

We talked to her this morning and tried to convince her that she can wear whatever she wants.  Mommy and Daddy bought all these things for her, Dora and Diego, so it doesn't matter if someone says that they're for boys.  (She has a Batman shirt that she loves, is someone going to tell her that it's for boys too?)  After talking to her some more, I think it was another student (a three-years-old girl) who told her it was for boys.  I can't really be mad at a little girl for saying something her parents probably told her.  Should I be mad at the parents?  I don't know.  Our genderized society?  I don't know.  I'm upset, but I can't focus my anger on anything.  I just don't like my little girl to be sad or made to feel bad about herself.  I thought it would be at least a few more years before I had to deal with her feelings about her self-image.  Am I reading too much into this?

She loves to watch Dora too, but Diego usually wins.

I guess that I'm also upset because it has marred what was supposed to be a pretty good day. - It's my birthday and my hubby bought me a Kinect with Just Dance!  It's actually something I plan on playing with my daughter because she LOVES to dance.  I just want my children to be happy.

How To Be A Woman

How To Be A Woman is awesome! It is hilarious. Caitlin Moran's memoir had so much hype that I was a little concerned and I wasn't sure if I should buy it.  Then, luckily I won it (thanks Lucybird!) and I knew I had to read it right away.

I'm a feminist. (My teenage self is so embarrassed.)  Modern Feminism needs to be championed by all women, not just academics.  It’s not just about the big stuff, but the little stuff too.  If you're a woman and you want the freedom to do what the men are doing, then you're a feminist.  If you want freedom, period, you're a feminist.  Feminism is about equality, not women being better than men.  Moran’s definition on page 79 is simple and straight to the point.  

I remember in high school various students saying how they hated a particular teacher, because she was strict and a feminist.  I think that was the first time I was made to feel that feminism was in some way undesirable.  It's not.  Feminists still have fun, they party, have sex, get married, have babies and all the other stuff that women do.  That teacher ended up being one of my favourite teachers ever.  I could go on and on about the great gaps in gender equality (from genderized toys and books to the fact that Canadian women make 73% of what men do* - 76% is the average for the developed world) but I'm going to stop here, because this isn't a rant about feminism.  This is about how much I loved Caitlin Moran's memoir.

Moran goes through most of her life, from 13 to 35, the time in which she becomes a woman.  She doesn't talk about every single thing that has ever happened to her.  What she does tell us about are those moments that helped her to become the woman she is.  She decided at a young age, 13, she would be a feminist, so even during her drinking, party, snogging years, she was still a feminist.  The first time she has to deal with sexism is so odd and funny and unbelievable (since she was also a teenager).  There was so much I could relate too, like having children.  The first chapter on her period is kind of scary.  I laughed out loud when I was reading about Moran and her husband changing diapers.  I also love the story about Lady Gaga.

Moran talks about some very personal issues and events in her life, but each issue is relevant to women.  Because she does it with humour and flair, I believe that How To Be A Woman is accessible to every woman.  It is probably the only book I will ever say that every woman should read.  Do I think men should read it?  Yes and no, but mostly yes.  It depends on how squeemish they are.  I think they might learn something about what it is women have to deal with.  The chapters about sexism and boyfriends would be helpful.  If you have daughters, the chapters on periods and other adolescent issues might be give you some insight.  Also, men, if you want your daughters, sisters, wives, to be treated the same as men, thought of as equally capable, paid the same, not subject to sexism, then you're feminists too.

*Seriously?!  73%?!  I'm going to tell you, I work just as hard as any man and I better not be getting 27% less than what I'm worth.  I'm the first one here every day.  If I ever find out that this is the case, I will bring down a giant s#*& storm.

More thoughts on How To Be A Woman:

Lucybird's Book Blog

The Blue Bookcase 

What Red Read 

The Book Brothel

Boys Are Tough, Girls Are Catty?

I first saw this over at Feminist Philosophers.  It makes me unhappy.  Couldn't they just have one book with everything in it?  I feel like equality keeps taking steps backwards.

Here are the contents for each book:


BOYS ONLY: How to Survive Anything!
Table of Contents:
How to Survive a shark attack
How to Survive in a Forest
How to Survive Frostbite
How to Survive a Plane Crash
How to Survive in the Desert
How to Survive a Polar Bear Attack
How to Survive a Flash Flood
How to Survive a Broken Leg
How to Survive an Earthquake
How to Survive a Forest Fire
How to Survive in a Whiteout
How to Survive a Zombie Invasion
How to Survive a Snakebite
How to Survive if Your Parachute Fails
How to Survive a Croc Attack
How to Survive a Lightning Strike
How to Survive a T-Rex
How to Survive Whitewater Rapids
How to Survive a Sinking Ship
How to Survive a Vampire Attack
How to Survive an Avalanche
How to Survive a Tornado
How to Survive Quicksand
How to Survive a Fall
How to Survive a Swarm of Bees
How to Survive in Space

 vs


GIRLS ONLY: How to Survive Anything!
Table of Contents:
How to survive a BFF Fight
How to Survive Soccer Tryouts
How to Survive a Breakout
How to Show You’re Sorry
How to Have the Best Sleepover Ever
How to Take the Perfect School Photo
How to Survive Brothers
Scary Survival Dos and Don’ts
How to Handle Becoming Rich
How to Keep Stuff Secret
How to Survive Tests
How to Survive Shyness
How to Handle Sudden Stardom
More Stardom Survival Tips
How to Survive a Camping Trip
(“fresh air is excellent for the skin”)
How to Survive a Fashion Disaster
How to Teach Your Cat to Sit
(are you #$&^%*@ kidding me?)
How to Turn a No Into a Yes
Top Tips for Speechmaking
How to Survive Embarrassment
How to Be a Mind Reader
How to Survive a Crush
Seaside Survival
How to Soothe Sunburn
How to Pick Perfect Sunglasses
Surviving a Zombie Attack
How to Spot a Frenemy
Brilliant Boredom Busters
How to Survive Truth or Dare
How to Beat Bullies
How to be an Amazing Babysitter

Source for contents:

http://ryannorth.tumblr.com/post/24675908508/boys-only-how-to-survive-anything-table-of

Here is what Scholastic has to say.  Not really an apology, but maybe an oops?

"Pregnancy discrimination is on the rise" from Feminist Philosophers

I saw this post the other day and it scared me.  In case you haven't read it here already, I'm going to have a baby, really soon.  I don't live in the UK, but I can see how this could happen anywhere.

Pregnancy discrimination is on the rise « Feminist Philosophers

Why Can't Good-Looking Women Be Geeks?

I read this post on Stargazing today and was thoroughly irritated. From Stargazing:

"This is somewhat annoying. Someone at Film Drunk decided that women have to be lying when they describe themselves at science-fiction/comicbook fans and that they only do it to pander to men/boys. Which makes sense, because why else would women do anything? Am I right?"

Film Drunk even put together a reel of clips from talk shows with hot actresses confessing their nerdiness.  Some of them, ya, I think they might be saying they like Star Wars just to help promote whatever movie they're in, but others seem really genuine...  like when Rosario Dawson spoke Klingon or Megan Fox started naming off cartoonists. 

Besides that... I think I do okay in the looks department (when I'm not pregnant or recovering from pregnancy) and I'm a geek.  Just read all the Sci-fi/Fantasy/etc stuff I have all over this blog.  It's not like I "pandered" to my geeky, D&D loving husband with talk of Star Trek and comic books (FYI, he admits that I know more about the Marvel Universe than he does).  It's not like I don't have a hot, tall, blonde friend who loves Dragon Age and the recently released Dragon Age II (they're Xbox games).  Who are these "Film Drunk" people to decide hot chicks can't be geeks?  Can't women have diverse interests?  Why are they trying to place all attractive women in a box?  It just irritated me... a lot.  Click the link below to check out the Stargazing post and watch the video.

Stargazing blog by Malene Arpe

Stargazing blog by Malene Arpe | Female Writers In Late Night

It's a sad state of affairs.  I don't have a lot of time this evening, but I had to share this.  Click the link below to find out more.
Stargazing blog by Malene Arpe

Infographic from Statette.

Do Women Read Fantasy?

I do.  Apparently there is a writer at the New York Times who says women won't watch Game of Thrones.  I think she's wrong.  I haven't read these books, but Malene Arpe (a woman) loves them and has been blogging about the upcoming miniseries for ages.  Click the link below to read more of her post.
Stargazing blog by Malene Arpe

So, do women read fantasy?  I definitely do.  I've read, The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings, several Forgotten Realms novels.  They'd all be included in the same genre as Game of Thrones  I love reading.  I love to discover new worlds whether based on the past, present or future, with or without magical elements.  I'm just insulted that this woman doesn't think women read fantasy.

Princes versus Princesses

I've always really enjoyed a good Disney movie, but pictures like this make you think. Check it out at KIKA.LA's blog.

KIKA.LA: You princesses think you got it bad

Though a few months ago I came across this:

(I can't find the source!  Help!)

‘Fro

Sometimes my co-workers are so crass…

There was an article in today’s Toronto Star about black women being afraid of the "’fro” (http://www.thestar.com/living/article/298814). My female coworker said that it’s because they don’t want to look like a brillo pad. I usually take her to be a little more intelligent than that comment. I just found that terribly insensitive and judgmental. There are no black people where I work, (not for any “bad” reason, the owners only staff four people, myself and three others); there is no one there capable of growing a natural afro.

I was trying not to contribute to the day’s conflict, so I walked away. (Walking away seems to be something I have to do at the job.) What I wanted to say was that many black women feel compelled to fit into the stereotypes of beauty, which include straight, flowing hair, impressed upon them by a predominantly white media. If my coworker actually read the article before making her careless comment, those ugly words may not have come out of her mouth.

I could go on about the pressures to be beautiful, according to a certain stereotype. I could talk about how this affects the women of different cultures in different ways, from Asia to Africa to South America and the cosmetic/chemical processes these women put themselves through. These comments could turn into an essay on what is considered to be the ideal image. I’m not going to. I hope that the people reading this know what the arguments are. I just wish for a greater acceptance of individualism that looking a certain way, natural or processed doesn’t really matter. I wish a lot of things that I know aren’t true.

Read the Star article. It’s quite good, a little snippet into manufactured beauty from an afro point of view.
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/298814