Conference turris::womannotes-v3

"Heather Has Two Mommies"

I don't remember the author.
It is about a child conceived and born to a lesbian couple.

       Carol

Finder: The True Story of a Private Investigator
        by Marilyn Greene

When she was only four or five years old, Georgia O'Keefe 
knew she wanted to be a painter.  Marilyn Greene had the
same childhood certainty, except she wanted to find lost
people.  

Her autobiography describes her path from single working
mother to private investigator, and covers many of
her cases, including several involving missing children.  

Meigs 

    "Carmen Dog" by Carol Emshwiller
    
    just out in paperback, (positively reviewed on NPR).
    
    Strange, funny, weird book about how all the females in New York
    (including animal females) become other species.
    
    The heroine is a setter dog who becomes a young woman opera star.
    Other women become yeti, wolverines, gnu.  Pets become human women.  
    
    The men get really bent out of shape.  It's an odd book with a 
    wryly feminist viewpoint.

    
    "Diary Reveals a 'Lost' Community", by Amy Brooke Baker

    Reprinted [without permission] from the April 24, 1990, edition of 
    The Christian Science Monitor
    
    A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on Her Diary,
    1785-1812 
    
    by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich New York: Alfred A. Knopf 480 pp., $24.95 
    
    Late 18th-century Maine might be the last place you would expect to 
    bump into feminist history.  So it is a pleasant surprise to find 
    behind the unassuming diary of an 18th-century Augusta midwife a 
    tribute to the fairer (but hardly weaker) sex, and a glimpse of a 
    community and economy unrecorded by most chroniclers of the period. 
    
    Martha Ballard was a Massachusetts native who moved in 1777 to what 
    is now Augusta, Maine, with her husband, Ephraim--a miller, surveyor,
    and loyal Tory.  The mother of nine children (six of whom survived), 
    Ballard reported delivering 814 babies in her 27-year diary.  Between
    frequent, and often perilous, midwifery missions, Ballard washed, 
    cooked, churned butter, made cheese, candles, and soap, grew her own 
    vegetables and medicinal herbs, and oversaw a significant home 
    weaving operation. 
    
    It comes as little surprise that this hardy woman was great aunt to
    another New Englander famous for her resolve--Clara Barton, founder 
    of the American Red Cross. 
    
    Several historians have deemed Ballard's diary too mundane, too full 
    of "trivia about domestic chores and pastimes" to be worthy of 
    serious study.  But author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich argues, rightly, 
    that something far more important than household hints lurks behind 
    Ballard's laborious entries, namely "a lost substructure of 
    18th-century life"--a decidedly female one. 
    
    Though she followed patriarchal custom in referring to houses, wives,
    and children by the men they belonged to, Ballard and husband Ephraim
    were really something of an early two-career couple.  While Ephraim 
    and sons contributed to the local economy with a family-operated 
    sawmill and gristmill, Martha and daughters participated in a 
    separate--but equally significant--economy run exclusively by women. 
    
    The women of Hallowell (as Augusta was then called) traded cloth,
    cabbage, butter, pork, and spices among themselves, employed their 
    own and their neighbors' daughters, and settled accounts 
    independently of their husbands.  In addition, midwife Ballard was 
    paid for each child she delivered, some 30 births a year. 
    
    Actually, this female economy, given little attention by official
    records of the day, was just one element of a larger hidden society 
    of women, which Ballard describes in detail with her own 
    distinctively dry humor. 
    
    Ballard's female neighbors rallied to help each other in times of
    adversity. As many as 10 women regularly turned out to sit with a 
    friend through the early stages of childbirth, often remaining for a
    celebratory dinner afterward. Ballard herself was one of several 
    local midwives who also served as healers.  She routinely braved ice 
    jams, flooding rivers, rearing horses, and nasty falls to tend to her
    patients.  For one December birth, Ulrich explains, Ballard walked
    across an icy Kennebec "almost reaching shore before breaking through
    to her waist...She dragged herself out, mounted a neighbor's horse, 
    and rode dripping to the delivery." 
    
    And like many of her contemporaries, Ballard suffered loneliness and
    financial uncertainty in later life while her husband spent more than
    a year in debtor's prison. 
    
    Yet, for all of her trials, this plucky midwife rarely complained,
    requesting only additional strength from "the Great parent" to endure
    her often difficult lot. 
    
    Along with its depictions of a strong and generous feminine society,
    Ballard's diary offers none of the stereotypical notions of female
    gatherings.  It is devoid of cattiness or gossip. 
    
    Indeed, Ballard, whose position often provided her with inside
    information on the most sensational events of Hallowell--including 
    one mass murder and a local judge accused of rape--remained supremely
    discreet, often to the frustration of a curious reader. 
    
    Fortunately, Ulrich uses only snippets of Ballard's diary to 
    illustrate her point, rather than reprinting long passages from the 
    often tedious journal, which is difficult to read, due to the 
    midwife's creative spelling and haphazard punctuation.  
    Unfortunately, Ulrich herself is no Michener, with an academic 
    analysis that borders at times on the lifeless. 
    
    But ultimately it is Ballard's matter-of-fact voice the reader is 
    left with--sharing a tale of spirit and community, a testament to the
    perspicacity and resilience of women. 
    
    [Amy Brooke Baker is a reporter for the Lexington (Ky.) Herald 
    Leader.] 

    "No Idle Hands" by Anne McDonald
    
    briefly this is a social history of American women and their knitting.
    It is very insightful.  I had no idea that a history book could be so
    engrossing.  There was a woman who said that quiltng was womens' form 
    of the blues and this book addresses the lives and times of American 
    women from the Massachusetts Bay Colony on.  (I'm on wagon trains, the
    Civil War is next)
    
    Dondi

    "Self-Help" by Lorrie Moore
                
    This is a collection of short stories that I just read, and enjoyed.
     Some of the stories are very funny, especially "A Kid's Guide To
    Divorce," "How to Become a Writer" and "How to Be an Other Woman."
     Some of the stories are very sad, especially one about a 42 yr.
    old woman who decides to commit suicide because she has cancer,
    and one called "How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)" where a woman
    recalls her past relationship with her mother through remembering
    conversations.
    
    I liked this paragraph from the story "How" where a woman describes
    becoming emotionally involved with someone.
    
    "His name means savior.  He rolls into your arms like Ozzie and
    Harriet, the whole Nelson genealogy.  He is living rooms and turkey
    and mantels and Vicks, a nip at the collarbone and you do a slow
    syrup sink into those arms like a hearth, into those living rooms,
    well hello Mary Lou."
    
    Lorna
    

    For an excellent suspense novel read THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT by
    Dean Koontz.

    Diet for a New America, by John Robbins.
    
    This book describes how the modern factory farm--the entity that
    produces food--is run.  It describes the chemicals and hormones, the
    bizarre genetic distortions, the butchering methods, the environmental
    impact, and the social effects of current cow, pig, veal, and chicken
    farming.  It also discusses the health issues surrounding meat and
    dairy eating and vegetarianism.  
    
    It's more than just an anti-meat treatise; it's a discussion about
    animal rights and has an implied ethical argument.  It's one of the
    more powerful books I've ever read, despite not being perfectly well
    written.  
    
    It's also engrossing (although upsetting) and I recommend it highly. 
    
    
    	Nina

    
    I heard a report (on NPR) on one of the books that won the Penn-Faulkner 
    award for "one of the 5 best novels of 1989".  The title is "Jump Off 
    Creek" and it's about a woman who homesteads in Oregon, I think at the 
    turn of the century.  (She does this by herself -- her husband either 
    dies or is somehow or other gone permanently from her life).  The author's 
    name is Molly Gloss.  This may be her first novel.  Normally, this sort 
    of story (and the time period in which it takes place) doesn't interest 
    me, but having someone named Lydia doing something that is very risky and 
    which requires strength, tenacity, cleverness, endurance, etc,....is 
    appealing.  

    Has anyone out there read it?
    
    CQ

Actually, this is a good book catalog. It's called "Chinaberry Book Service",
and its address is:
	Chinaberry Book Service
	2830 Via Orange Way, Suite B
	Spring Valley, CA 92078

It's books for children and families. I haven't used it myself, because I
prefer to browse New Words. However, in the subject index in the back, they
include subjects such as "Strong Females", and "Multi-racial". The catalog is
arranged by child's age.
	Mez

    WHEN YOU AND YOUR MOTHER CAN'T BE FRIENDS, Resolving the most 
    complicated relationsip of your life by Victoria Secunda, 1990,
    Pub. Delocorte Press
    
    For daughters of mothers or mothers of daughters.....challenging,
    informative, enlightening, resolving....etc....
    
    

    I just finished a book entitled, "Nothing to Declare, Memoirs of a
    Woman traveling Alone", by Mary Morris. I picked it up spur of the moment
    after reading the cover which says: "Morris is one gutsy woman and one
    fantastic writer.... A riveting account of living in Mexico and
    traveling through Latin America" -- Cosmopolitan.

    Her tales of the people she meets while in Mexico are touching.  Her
    description of their way of life fascinating.  Here's a quote which
    I think displays her ability of capturing the moment:

    "I walked into the water.  The sand beneath my toes was silken, the
    water warm.  I walked into the water as if into a baptismal.  My feet
    disappeared into the blackness, my toes dug deeper into the sand.  My
    feet were gone, my legs to the knees.  At the edge of the Caribbean, on
    an isolated strip of beach, everything came back to me.  Everything
    that had ever happened to me and to my body.  It all came back there.
    And when I could stand the infusion of memory no longer, I dove in.  I
    swam in the warm salt water, under the light of the moon.  Water held
    me.

    "Women remember.  Our bodies remember.  Every part of us remembers
    everything that has ever happened.  Every touch, every feel, everything
    is there in our skin, ready to be awakened, revived.  I swam in the
    sea.  Salt water cradled me, washing over all I had ever felt.  I swam
    without fear in the line of moonlight radiating on the surface of the
    sea.  The water entered me and I could not tell where my body stopped
    and the sea began.  My body was gone, but all the remembering was there."

    I just finished Rosamund Pilcher's new book _September_. Amazingly, I
    liked it even better than _The Shell Seekers_, and felt I knew the
    characters as part of a big extended family.  Mostly, it made me want
    to pack up and move to Scotland.
    
    I am going to reread it before returning it to the lender. THAT's how
    much I liked it!
    

    	After hearing about this book in this conference (some time ago,)
    	I recently chose to read "The Soul of a New Machine" (by T.Kidder)
    	for a paper I'm doing for school in my "Computers and Society"
    	class.  I enjoyed it quite a bit!

    	Understanding how 32-bit minicomputers work (enough to support
    	them, especially while Clustered) has taken up an enormous chunk
    	of my life in the past decade.  Reading about the design of such
    	a system hit home (especially the part about having your "head"
    	so far inside the machine that it sometimes takes several days
    	away from it to get out.)  ;^)  This is especially true during
    	Support Level hardware training that lasts 5 or 6 weeks.

    	Also, the marvelous eccentricities of computer people (aren't we
    	wonderful? :)) and the culture of individual computer companies
    	rang a number of bells for me in this book.  I wish there were a
    	lot more books about the subject.

    	As much as people seem to be fascinated by computers these days
    	in our society as a whole, I think computer companies end up
    	with a disproportionate number of computer extremists :)) - an
    	interesting breed of folk.  :)

    	The only thing that I didn't like about the book was the obvious
    	male domination of the environment back then (late 1970's, early
    	1980's.)  One engineer in the book - during a comment about why
    	he wouldn't relocate to another state for the company - mentioned
    	that he refused to "bring up his wife and kids" in the other state.
    	(She must have been a child bride, I guess.)  

    	Later, someone at a fair noticed that IBM had the "right number"
    	of minorities.  The author added, "And women."  

    	All in all, though, I'd recommend the book!

Out of Africa
       by Karen Blixen

A partial autobiography. Blixen writes of the years she
and her husband owned a coffee plantation in Africa, from
about 1910 to shortly after WWI ended.  Lyrical is the
word that strikes me now.

In an article titled "Truman Capote Interviews Truman
Capote," he asked himself who he regarded as the 
best writers of the 20th century. Blixen was one of
the answers. So I read the book and was enthralled.

This book demonstrates why movies can't replace
books.  The movie is Kodak; the book is Mind.

A "companion" autobiography:
    Into the Night?    West Into the Night? <title is foggy>
    by Beryl Markham 

Beryl had an adventure-book life ... horse trainer ...
apprentice nobilty ... pilot ...  (PBS had a very good 
one-hour special Markham a few years ago.)

This book is also a subject of arguement.  Some people
claim it was written by her ex-husband, who was a screen writer.
Hemmingway (sp?), for one, was astonished she wrote it.

SPOILER WARNING!
If you're going to read the books, DON'T read the next page.
You might find it fun to discover this curiosity for yourself.


Blixen and Markham shared the same time, town, friends, lovers,
and problems.  Neither mentions the other in her book.
A dissertation topic is lurking here.  :)

    THE WOMAN WARRIOR; MEMOIRS OF A GIRLHOOD AMONG GHOSTS, by Maxine
    Hong Kingston. It's best described as a free-association auto-
    biography. Kingston describes her life as the eldest child of
    Chinese immigrants. Mixed in with this are "talk-stories" about
    the aunt that her parents don't want to talk about, her mother's
    education and career as a doctor in pre-revolution China, and a
    fable of a woman warrior, Fa Mu Lan.
    
    It's not an easy book to read. The opening chapter, about her aunt
    is horrifying. But it's a fascinating "insider's" look at what to
    most of us is a completely alien society.
    
    --- jerry

    re .15, Meigs (?? I think)-
    
    (other people who ducked her previous spoiler should duck this 
    one too ;-)
    
    
    That dissertation topic has one meaty pre-requisite question;
    which one published first?  I ran for my copy of one (and didn't 
    find it under "Blixen" but Dinesen, oh yeah ;-) to check the
    date it was published...looks like 1938.  When did Markham get
    (West) Into The Night published?  And is it possible the odds 
    are that whichever published second editted her work to remove
    references the analogues of which her counterpart had ommitted?
    Though perhaps they had agreed to do so...perhaps they collaborated
    in the sense that neither revealed their knowledge of the other's
    secrets.  What a striking discrepancy you've noticed! ;-)
    
    DougO

    I'm most of the way through "An Autobiography" by Ansel Adams, and
    I'm finding it fascinating. He writes extremely well, mainly about
    people  and  his  relations  with them. The pictures are of course
    extraordinary.

--David

    
    "Women of Wisdom" by Tsultrim Allione.  This book contains the
    translations of the histories of five women who were "yoginis", the
    female counterpart of a yogi, a Tibetan Bhuddist adept.  The author is
    an American woman who became a Bhuddist nun in the late 60's/early
    70's.  She later "gave back" her vows and rejoined the secular world.
    She then took up a project to research and translate these histories
    since she found that women's viewpoints on the Bhuddist experience had
    not been published.  The book also contains a section describing the
    author's experiences as a Bhuddist nun.  This book is a marvelous and
    insightful look at Tibetan Bhuddism, and is especially interesting
    because of its feminine perspective.
    
    
    						/Rita
    

    I know it's an oldie now, and I can't figure out how I had missed it,
    but I've just finished Rita Mae Brown's _Six of One_.  I actually like
    it much more than _Rubyfruit Jungle_ -- the women in it are bold and
    crazy, and quite avant garde for the Mason-Dixie line, especially for
    the early 1900's!
    

    Another vote for _Six of One_
    
    It's funny, well written, some great bits, some pain, some triumph.
    
    Only problem was that it is difficult to put down once you begin.

This morning a friend said she was told of a book that discusses women 
writing letters to each other.  Both of us would like to know more about 
this!  Has anyone ever heard of such a book?

Carla

    Some way cool books I just read:
    
    Reinventing Eve - Modern Woman in Search of Herself
    by Kim Chernin (...an intriguing study of an issue of ascending import:
    how women can re-create a femal psyche that will effectively challenge
    and transform traditional patriarchal culture....- Publishers Weekly)
    ISBN 0-06-097173-8  - this book looks particularly at the religious
    aspect of the patriarchal culture's formation, and reinterprets it in a
    new light....
    
    Dance of the Spirit - The Seven Steps of Women's Spirituality
    by Maria Harris
    this book looks at the growing spirituality of women as if they were
    steps in a dance.  Graciously, welcomingly, warmingly written (your
    mileage may vary, of course).
    
    Daughters of a Coral Dawn
    by Katherine V. Forrest
    ISBN 0-930044-50-9
    this is a stunningly well-prosed charming piece of lesbian science
    fiction (again, your mileage may vary).  
    
    
    -Jody
    

    "Mothers of Feminism.  The Story of Quaker Women in America" by
    Margeret Hope Bacon
    
    This book is surprising, enlightening, and thought provoking.
    
    A few small excerpts:
    
    	"The stereotype of colonial,marriage in which the wife married
    	young, had many children, died early, and was in turn replaced by
    	another young wife, does not prove true in the case of the Quakers.
        Quaker women born before 1730 married at the average age of 22.8
    	years, while comparable males married at 26.5 years.  Most couples
    	were close in age, and marriages between older women and younger
    	men were not uncommmon."
    
    The book also discusses the number of female Quaker ministers that 
    travelled alone throughout the Colonies, and, in fact, travelled back
    and forth between England, Barbados and the Colonies quite often.
    It talks about the fact that Quaker women "must have used some form of
    birth control" after 1760.
    
    There is so much more.  This book is truly a rich feast for the mind,
    heart and soul.  I am not even halfway through it, and still there are
    30 or 40 passages that I would love to quote for you (and no, it is not
    a huge book!).  I normally do not like historical, biography type
    books, but this is one I surely am.
    
    One other thing I will quote.  "The pioneer role that Quaker women 
    played in the development of feminism in this country, had its origins
    over two hundred years before the [first women's rights] convention at
    Seneca Falls.  The Society of Friends itself, born during a period of
    religious ferment in England, became the first sect to embody a concept
    of the spiritual equality of men and women within its church 
    government and discipline, liberating Quaker women to preach and 
    prophesy as well as to share responsibilites."
    
    And it continues to this day.
    
    E Grace

    My husband and I have been reading a series of mystery books written by
    Sara Paretsky featuring female detective V.I. Warshawski.  We both
    thought they were great fun to read (especially if you like
    detective/mystery books).  A lot of the secondary characters appear in
    all of the books giving a nice continuity from one to the next.  The
    titles are (in order of writing):
    
    		Indemnity Only
    
    		Deadlock
    	
    		Killing Orders
    
    		Bitter Medicine
    
    		Blood Shot
    
    I believe Sara has a new book now, if I remember correctly, the title
    is Burnt Offerings.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

    Yeah, she's great isn't she!  Another couple are Sue Grafton
    (char=Kinsey Milhone), and Nancy Pickard (cha=Jenny Cain).  Pickard you
    need to read in sequence because some of the character development.

The latest is Burn Marks; I don't think it's out in paperback yet. It has a
character named Mez!
	Mez

    I'm reading "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts.  It's tough-going
    for me, as I have to stop and lay the book down to get my blood
    pressure back in range as I go.  The book tracks the early days of the
    AIDS epidemic in America and chronicles the government's lack of
    response to the crisis.  Shilts also lays blame at the foot of the gay
    community for actions which would indicate they were more concerned
    with a growing public relations problem than with the community's
    health.  And, as a reporter, he is particularly critical of the media's
    early ('81 - '83) failure to probe and report on the epidemic and the
    government's response to the public health crisis.  Plus, there are the
    scientific community's heros and villains.  I'd recommend the book as a
    primer for anyone wishing to know more about AIDS, in all its aspects.
    
    Marge

    Various discussions in here moved me to go down in the basement and dig
    up my copies of John Varley's "Wizard" trilogy.  (Titles in order are
    "Titan", "Wizard", and "Demon")  I just finished reading them again.
    
    Whew.  Incredibly strong female characters.  If it was a movie (no
    movie could possibly do it justice) Sigourney Weaver should have the
    lead role.  If it was a movie it would also be rated X, for sex and
    some stomach-turning moments.
    
    It is *very* imaginative.
    
    Look for it on the SF shelf.

    Back in V2, I recommended the trilogy Kristen Lavransdatter
    (The Bridal Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby, The Cross)
    about the life of a woman in medieval Norway.  Some folks told me
    they could not find the book.
        
    I was in Wordsworth in Harvard Square (a not uncommon occurrence)
    and spotted that they have a handsome and affordable paperback edition
    published by Vintage.
    
    Highly recommended, four stars, a must read,
    
        Margaret 

    Also spotted in Wordsworth,
    
      The Bone People by Keri Hulme
    
    in paperback on the Wordsworth recommended shelf.
    
    The writer is a New Zealand woman Maori.  Story is difficult to
    read in places because there are some brutal passages about child
    abuse.  Overall the book is beautiful, satisfying, stunningly well
    written, an contains a great sense of place and family.
    
       Margaret 

    re: .29 - One of my favorite works of SF too.
    
    Tony

    
    
    I just finished Doris Grumbach's _Chamber_Music_ -- beautifully
    written.  By the time I'd gotten to the end of the second page, I
    had decided that I wanted to read all her other books.  _Chamber_Music_
    is written from the point of view of a 90-year old woman looking back
    on her life.  I don't want to give any more details, but I highly
    recommend this book.
    
    Justine

    I'm about halfway through Antonia Fraser's  "Warrior Queens"
    (Fraser is a wonderful writer.  She is acknowledged for her research
    and accuracy but still turns out very readable prose.  Also recommend
    her biography of Mary Queen of Scots and "The Weaker Vessel".)
    
    One of the warrior queens is Boadieca/Boudica a queen in Britain in 67
    AD.  She raised and led an army that almost threw the Romans out of
    Britain.  The main accounts of her origins and campaign come from two
    Roman historians: Tacitus, whose uncle was an assistant to the Governor
    and was present during the uprising; and Dio who wrote about 100 years
    afterward but apparently had access to other sources beside Tacitus'
    account. 
    
    Both Roman accounts describe Boudica with a loud, unpleasant, and
    strident voice!  I LOVE it.   I wonder if she chewed glass too?

On a good friend's recommendation, I've just finished "Among Women" by
Louise Bernikow.  This should be required reading for all women!  She
explores documented friendships/relationships between women of yore,
and questions the painful reality of why women's voices have been dis-
regarded for such a very long time.

She explores all the intricacies of relationships between women, like
lesbian relationships, mother-daughter turmoil, friendships between 
sisters, platonic friendships between women, and differences between 
white women and women of color.

Carla

    two possibilities for those who are folk/political music lovers:
    
    Joan Baez autobiography.  interesting, although it left me thinking
    she was more egotistical than I had previously believed.  Her comments
    on her trip to Hanoi were poignant in this time of Iraqi crisis.
    Oh, the other thing...its not 'buy-ez' its more like 'bize' or 'bi'ez'
    
    Holly Near autobiography.  I'm only about half way through it...but
    it too is interesting, and her account of trekking to 'Nam was also
    very enlightening.  Some of her comments on how the men in her 
    audience got all upset when she 'came out'.  Suddenly they thought
    her music was anti-male.  She kept trying to convince them that
    being pro-woman did not equate to anti-male.  She just added more
    songs about strong, ambitious, loving women....kept her political 
    overtones, kept singing about peace, no-nukes, etc...but the men
    didn't hear that.  (i should say SOME men...not all...in SOME 
    places, at SOME time, made those comments....SHE too says only
    some, ... just wanted to clarify...)
    
    anyway, these were/are good books, for those who like autobiographies
    and music!
    
    deb
    

    _Bad Girls, Good Women_, by Rosie Thomas
    
    For those who might have read Rosamund Pilcher's books, this has
    somewhat of the same flavor since it takes place in England. Very
    interesting story of 2 women's interwoven lives over the course of 3
    decades, beginning in the 1950's.  Some parts seem shallow in terms of
    what one of the main characters is really like, but overall I thought
    it was good, can't-put-down kind of reading.
    

    "Mister God, This Is Anna", by Fynn
    
    This is the biography of an astonishing little girl.  I have now read
    it at least seven times, and am starting again.  It is a gift that I 
    give whenever possible.  The book is all about allowing yourself
    to have your own spirituality, and how clear things can be when they
    are not clouded by adulthood.
    
    It can usually be found in the "Religion" section of a bookstore, but I
    don't really see it as a religious book.  In fact, Anna would probably
    be pretty unhappy about that designation!
    
    E Grace
    

    "The Dieter" by Susan Sussman--a fun read.
    
    If you've *ever* been on a diet, given up smoking, or lost a friend
    or relationship, you will be able to relate to this upbeat "slice
    of life" type book.
    
    Barb

    re .39, Really?  That surprises me because I tried to read "The Dieter"
    and just couldn't get into it.  (Maybe it's because I've never smoked
    or weighed over 95 lbs.!)  Maybe I'll give it another try someday.
    
    Lorna
    
    
    

    Has anybody ever read the book "f*ck yes!"  (No asterisk in the
    actual title.)  It seems to be about how to say yes to anything
    and have a helluva great and guilt-free time doing so.  I might
    have to purchase it for the same reason I bought a 1950 copy of
    "The Hussy Handbook" ... some titles just can't be passed up.

    Carla

    I've had reason recently to rifle through my meagre library of feminist
    and philosophical literature (see pear::soapbox 194.*, its been fun);
    but I realized I really need some more stuff.  So I went shopping, and
    found something really neat; Ursula K. Le Guin has had published
    another collection of non-fiction essays, readings, and speeches.
    I glommed onto "The Language of the Night" when I found it years and
    years ago; its one of my favorite reads.  Well, she's become much more
    radical, and the new book is great!  Its called "Dancing at The Edge of
    the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places", $8.95 in paperback, ISBN
    0-06-097289-0.  I'm slowly savoring every page.
    
    DougO

    
    Well, I haven't read this but wonder if anyone has.  I just heard a
    compelling review of it on WBUR.  It's titled "No Turning Back" and 
    is by three former Roman Catholic nuns, named O'Reilly, Hussey, and
    ? (didn't get the third name).  It's the story of their gradual
    feminization and the consequent battles with Rome.  They evidently
    signed a full page ad for choice that was placed in the New York
    Times (?) and the only nuns to do so who did not recant their support,
    even when persuaded, then ordered to do so, by the church.  They're no
    longer nuns but I don't remember the circumstances around their return
    to secular life.
    
    Sounded fascination.  O'Reilly has evidently written a book titled
    (something like) "A Girlhood Lost", an account of growing up Roman
    Catholic.  (As a former RC, I eat this stuff up!)  :-)
    
    CQ 

    Tony Purmal has just written me from his new position with Oracle.
    He included an article he saw in the paper last week, and asked me
    to post it in =wn=.  I don't quite know if this is a "good book"
    review, but this is the only book topic we have.  And Tony's return
    address is here, too, if any of you want to write him (he sounded like
    friendly mail would be welcome...)
    
    DougO
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
From:	DECWRL::"apurmal%[email protected]" 21-SEP-1990
To:	[email protected] 
CC:	[email protected] 
Subj:	Doug, would you please post this in =wn= 

    Hello WOMANNOTERS,
 
        I saw this review in the Sunday paper the weekend after I left
    DEC, and I immediately thought of =wn=.  I remember the discussion
    surrounding topic this in =wn=-V2 or -V1 (I'm sure Jody will
    remember ;-) ).
 
    Tony Purmal
 
================================================================================
    A Review From 'Review', Sunday San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner
    Sept 9, 1990, Page 8.
    Reprinted without permission
 
    New Context for a 'Barbaric' Custom
 
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    PRISONERS OF RITUAL
    An Odyssey Into Female Genital Circumcision in Africa
    By Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
    Harrington Park; 306 Pages; $14.95
 
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
    REVIEWED BY LAURA LEDERER AND JOHN FOSTER-BEY
    ---------------------------------------------------------------
 
    Why do 94 million women in Africa submit to the practice of genital
    mutilation?  This is the question Hanny Lightfoot-Klein sets out to
    answer in her first book, "Prisoners of Ritual," which examines the
    widely practiced custom of female circumcision in Africa.
 
    Lightfoot-Klein, an educator and family counselor, has been writing
    about female curcumcision for scientific and popular journals in
    Europe for years.
 
    For Westerners, the practice of removing part or all of the female
    genitals is so completely foreign that it is difficult to comprehend. 
    The reaction in the West has been to label it barbaric and primitive
    without seeking a complete understanding of the practice, its origins
    and its relationship to traditional customs and codes of behavior.
 
    The result has been a series of misunderstandings over the last two
    decades between Westerners and Africans that has thwarted, the author
    suggests, efforts to eradicate the practice.
 
    Lightfoot-Klein places female circumcision in its historical and
    cultural context in two African countries - Sudan and Kenya.  The
    book consists of s series of interviews with a broad cross-section of
    Sudanese and Kenyans, including physicians, nurses, midwives,
    psychiatrists, religious leaders, scholars and most importantly,
    circumcised women and their husbands.  These interviews provide
    perhaps the most detailed description of the sexual and psychological
    impact of female circumcision on African women currently available.
 
    The practice of female circumcision is found across a broad,
    triangular, east-west band that stretches from Egypt in the northeast
    to Tanzania in the southeast to Sengal in the west.  More than 25
    countries pratice some from of female circumcision.  Using data from
    scholarly studies, informal interviews, photographs, diagrams, and
    personal pbservations gathered over a six-year period,
    Lightfoot-Klein describes the three major types of female
    circumcision.
 
    To her credit, she does not shy away from describing in detail the
    procedures and the lifelong health complications associated with
    circumcision.  For example, she explains how excisions and suturing
    in a pharaonic circumcision make urination difficult and painful,
    while menstruation often takes as long as two weeks.
 
    After marriage, in order to have sexual relations with their
    husbands, women must often undergo another surgery with a small knife
    or razor.  In addition, normal chilcbirth is impossible because
    circumcision makes dilation of the vagina impossible.  Finally many
    circumcised women and girls suffer acute and chronic infections,
    tissue damage and hemorrhage.
 
    The rationale for these practices is rooted in a series of myths
    about the female body and female sexuality, the author writes.  Many
    believe that circumcision enhances fertility, increases male sexual
    pleasure, prevents disease and has healing power.
 
    Some Nigerians believe the clitoris is an aggresive organ and a baby
    will die if its head touches it during delivery.  In Burkina Faso, it
    is believed that the clitoris renders men impotent.  In the Sudan,
    Lightfoot-Klein adds, people believe that circumcision ensures
    virginity.  Because these beliefs are so widely held, women face
    severe social ostracism if they are not circumcised.
 
    Perhaps Lightfoot-Klein's great service is to show that female
    circumcision is part of an extensive social web of values, beliefs
    and rituals associates with sexuality, female purity and the role of
    women in society.
 
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    John Foster-Bey is a program editor at the Ford Foundation;
    Laura Lederer is editor of 'Take Back The Night'
 
 
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Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 90 15:15:37 PDT
From: apurmal%[email protected]
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Doug, would you please post this in =wn=
    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    I know I got the recommendation from one of the notesfiles.... I just
    finished _The Education of Harriet Hatfield_, which is the story of a
    60 yr. old. woman whose lover of 30 yrs. has just died. Harriet opens a
    women's bookstore in Somerville and has to confront the issues of
    coming out as a lesbian.  Though somewhat superficially written, it
    gives a lot of food for thought.  The author is May Sarton, and I found
    it in the "new book" section at the library.
    

    I was deeply touched by a child's book called "Love You Forever."
    No matter how many times I've gone through it, I still cry at the
    message it suggests.  Everyone else I've shared it with, feels the
    same way and wants their own copy. The thing that amazed me most was that it
    was written by a man.  If these are the kinds of feelings men are
    now able to share, there is great hope for the future!
        
    I HIGHLY recommend "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch (about $4.95).
        
    Barb

    I bought a copy of that and gave it to my nearly grown son
    last Christmas.
    
    He actually didn't mind!
    
    Bonnie

    
    I finally finished "A Handmaid's Tale".  Blew me away.  This
    definitely deserves a second (and third, and fourth) perusal.
    
    Carla
    

    
     RE -1
    
    I agree, Carla - isn't it something else? I was in shock for about a
    week after finishing it (couldn't put it down either)....
    
    I hear that it's being made into a film, and a massive controversy is
    expected when it releases. In fact, I think it's overdue for release...
    anyhow, I can't wait to see it.
    
    'gail
    

    Re: last few
    
    The strange thing is... I read the Handmaid's Tale based on previous
    recommendations from members of this file and... It didn't really
    strike me as THAT good. Quite good, yes, but not really "convincing"
    for lack of a better word.
    
    On the other hand, I read Cat's Eye, also by M. Atwood, and I found it
    absolutely fascinating! I highly recommend it.
    
    I recently read a third book of hers, Bodily Harm, about a woman's life
    after she has been diagnosed/operated from breast cancer. The story is
    a mix-up of a very conventional spy-story and this woman's impressions.
    Again, I thought the woman's actions and thoughts went very deep, but
    the supposedly supporting story sounded like a poor excuse, as if the
    author didn't feel she could just talk about that woman's impressions
    but had to invent a story to carry it. 
    
    I'll keep on reading Atwood though, because I have found in each of her
    books enough that appealed to me to want me to try the next one.
    
    Joana 

    re:.49
    
    	� I hear that it's being made into a film, and a
    	massive controversy is expected when it releases.
    	In fact, I think it's overdue for release... �
    
    Well, it's not be*ing* made into a film. It already was. It was
    released here in the US last March. And it didn't really make
    much of a splash, critically, commercially, or socially.
    
    There's a topic on it in ZENDIA::MOVIES.
    
    --- jerry

    Another good Margaret Atwood book - a collection of TRULY unique short
    stories, is Bluebeard's Egg (which I'm in the midst of now...)
    
    -Jody
    

    Another vote for Bluebeard's Egg.  I loved the title story!
    
       Margaret

    
    this is a new book out, recently discussed in the new york times
    book review. it is a translation with commentary of the 'j'
    sections of the book of genesis (possibly other parts of the
    pentatuch, not sure). it has long been suggested that there are
    at least 3 sources for genesis. this translation suggests that
    the author of 'j' was a woman, that her literary style was bold
    and irreverent, and that it reflects the struggle between older
    matriarchal traditions and patriarchal judaism.
    
    (may have the title wrong, double checking...)
    

    Yes, it is called "The Book of J", and it features a new translation of
    J by Harold Bloom and a commentary on the work by David Rosenberg. 
    There is an excerpt from the book in the current issue of Tikkun
    magazine.  Actually, Richard Friedman, in his book "Who Wrote the
    Bible", raises the possibility that J might have been a woman, but he
    doesn't elaborate on that issue.  Anyway, after having read the Tikkun
    article, I definitely want to read the book.
    
    By the way, there are at least *four* sources for the Pentateuch:  J,
    P, E, and D (the Yahwist, the Priestly author, the Elohist author, and
    the Deuteronomist author).

    -- Mike

    The fourth book in Jean Auel's Earth Children series is in the
    bookstores and I can't for the life of me remember the name.  Anyway,
    the other books in the series are "The Clan of the Cave Bear", "The
    Valley of Horses", and "The Mammath Hunters".  The main character in
    all the books is Ayla, a young woman living at the dawn of "herstory".
    
    Janet
    

    it's _The_Plains_of_Passage_, I'm on the list at the lib cuz I refuse
    to pay 27 bucks for it.  I can't wait to find out what else Ayla's
    gonna invent.
    
    

    in re Ayla and inventing...
    
    I had a friend who remarked rather sarcasticially that she expected
    them to come up with the internal combustion engine. ;-)
    
    Bonnie

    Buffalo Gals by Ursula K. LeGuin. A collection of short stories and
    poems by the author. The cat poems, vegetable poems, and rock poems are
    great.
    
    Phil

    yah, Bonnie, whenever I think of Ayla's totally awesome
    		a) beauty
    		b) talent
    		c) modesty
    		d) grace under pressure
    		e) hunk of a guy
    		f) inventiveness
    		g) luck
    		h) all of the above
    		i) any of the above
    I feel TOTALLY inadequate as a woman!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    (but I'm still gonna read the dumb 4th book.  See 'true confessions'.)
    

    
    re-reading "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" again ... one of my
    all-time favorite books.  wish I had thumbs like Sissy's and
    knew of a ranch like the Rubber Rose.
    
    Carla (who visited Tom Robbins' home of La Conner yesterday)
    

    Carla - 
    
    Thanks for the reminder.  I loved that book.  In fact, I have 2 copies
    - one for loaning, one for keeping.  (The loaner is always out.)
    
    Nanci

    Carla, I wish I knew a buddhist monk like the one in Cowgirls.
    I loved the way he used to say, "No, no, sex IS dirty." To
    prevent misinterpretation, he meant it in the Woody Allen
    sense of "only when it's good." Which reminds me that I would
    also like to know a bokononist like Bokonon in Cat's Cradle,
    by Vonnegut. The next time I have to fill out something that
    asks for my religion, I may put down Catholic/Bokonist.
    
    Eileen
    
    P.S. Male apologists, kindly note three notes in a row saying positive
    things about members of your gender.

    Re: .57
    
    I bought Plains Of Passage at Bradleys yesterday for $17.47, supposedly 30%
    off.  130 pages down last night - only 620 to go!  So much for getting
    anything done at home this week...
    
    Good stuff so far (not suprising).
    
    John

    "The Second Son", but I can't for the life of me remember the authors
    name - even although I've read it 5 times already.
    
    
    Tracy

    
    Anything written by John Saul - but just finished one of his latest
    books last night (took me all of 2 1/2 days to read)  "Creature"
    

    I am currently reading a collection of short stories called, Light Can
    Be Both Wave and Particicle, by Ellen Gilchrist.  This is her sixth
    collection of short stories and I have also read all of the previous
    ones.  I would recommend them all.  
    
    Many of the stories are about various significant incidences in the lives 
    of the same characters.  A lot of them are small slices of life as seen 
    through the eyes of female characters, either children or teenagers, in 
    the 1940's or 1950's, in the U.S.  I guess they're basically about
    females growing up and coming of age in the United States in the 1940's
    through 1960's.
    
    I love the way she writes.  To give an example of her writing, here is 
    one paragraph that I particularly loved from one of the stories, 
    
    "It was a glamorous spring day.  The gold star in Mrs. Allen's window
    gleamed in the light.  The apple trees in the Hancock's yard had burst
    into bloom.  Elsie Carter came riding down the boulevard carrying her
    sack of Saturday Evening Posts.  One of my molars was about to fall
    out.  I could taste the wonderful thin, salty taste of blood.  I was
    eight years old.  In five years darker blood would pour out from in
    between my legs and all things would be changed.  For now, I was pure
    energy, clear light, morally neutral, soft and violent and almost
    perfect.  I had two good eyes and two good ears and two arms and two
    legs.  If bugs got inside of me, my blood boiled and ate them up.  If I
    cut myself, my blood rushed in and sewed me back together.  If a tooth
    fell out, another one came in.  The sunlight fell between the branches
    of the trees.  It was Saturday.  I had nothing to do and nowhere to go
    and I didn't have to do a thing I didn't want to do and it would be a
    long time before things darkened and turned into night."
    
    
    Lorna
    

There is a remarkably unreadable collection of essays on women and
computers in
	Signs, Vol 16, # 1, August 1990
	(University of Chicago Press)

	"From Hard Drive to Software: Gender, Computers, and Difference"

Warning: this is academic criticism: pages and pages of text and footnotes
without any real insights.  But still, someone might find it interesting.

I found it in the magazine section of Carey Library in Lexington Center
(directly opposite the Minuteman statue at the town common).

From Rt 128, take the Rt 4 exit East a few miles.  The town common will
appear on your right.  The library is the end of the common, on the right,
just at the merge with Mass Ave. and the beginning of "downtown."

Martin.

    
    re .68:
    
    That reminds me, Martin, to mention that the November CACM cover
    article is entitled 'Women and Computing'.  There's a companion
    article by the ACM Committee on The Status of Women in Computing
    Science.  Haven't read them yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
    
    I offer to photocopy and send through interoffice mail the articles,
    if anyone is interested.  Send me mail if you are.
    

    	I just finished reading "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan, a San
    Francisco local author, I believe.  (She and this book were
    mentioned to my when I was out in SF last May.)  The book is about
    four Chinese women and their mothers, and is a series of vignettes
    about their lives, both in SF and in China.  

    	I thought that the way Amy Tan portrayed the relationships
    between the mothers and daughters was very well done - the
    struggles, the love...true insights into the relationships.  

    	Glad I finally got around to reading it!

    	amy

Some recent reads:

Spider Women's Granddaughters, Paula Gunn Allen, Ed.  Good collection
of woman's stories from Native American Women.  Includes modern-day
stories.  Lovely and moving.

Miles Davis:  Autobiography.  A must for jazz fans and Miles fans.
Really interesting story of jazz in the old days when Bird and Monk
and Dizzy were all around.  Miles is an interesting guy; however his
views of women are prehistoric.  However, for me, it gave a
interesting glimpse into African-American culture and history.

Where The Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein.  Excellent collection of
poems.  Oriented for children although (so?) I liked it.

Drumming on the Edge of Magic, by Mickey Hart.  Some good Grateful
Dead anecdotes and discussion of drumming.  He mentions Gimbuta's
work and goddess religions and their relationship to drumming.
Interesting but some of his conjectures were a bit far out and
ungrounded for my taste.  Great story about Camp Winnarainbow at the
end.  This camp is run by my clown guru Wavy Gravy for inner-city kids
out in Oakland.

A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving.  I thought this book was
excellent and has a theme of fate running throughout.  His character
Owen Meany was awesome.  One his better books in my view.

Amy:  I also thought Amy Tan book was excellent.  One of those rares
book I bought at an airport that I really liked.  

    If you liked "Where the Sidewalk Ends" check out also the follow-up "A
    Light in the Attic" of similar poems.
    
    Shel Silverstein is wonderful, both his childrens stuff and his adult
    stuff...
    
    D!

    
    
    Lynne V. Andrews has a series which she began about 15 years ago.
    It's a history of her training as a Warrioress.   Quite similar
    to the Castenadas series.  There are six or seven in the series
    beginning with "Medicine Woman" and her search for an ancient
    Canadian Indian Wedding Basket.   Just thinking about a "Sisterhood
    of the Shields" and the powerful women sprinkled all around the
    planet leading impecable lives makes me feel good.
    
    She also has one called "Teachings around the Sacred Wheel" which 
    is more of a workshop book with exercises for building personal 
    power, seeing, connecting with your male & female selves and working 
    with crystals. 
    
    Miriam
    

    
    Re -1
    Thanks Mirian - that sounds very interesting.
    I'm going to go find some of her stuff.
    'gail

    
    I have not read any of Lynn Andrews books.  I am posting this article
    because I found it very thought provoking.  I would be interested to
    hear Andy's thoughts about Brook Medicine Eagle (a Native American
    woman who conducts workshops for non-Native American people.  Parts of
    this article made me squirm in my chair, parts of it I agreed with,
    parts of it I did not.  I post this here mainly for FYI, not with the
    intention of sparking a big discussion.  If if there is interest in
    discussion, perhaps a new note should be started so that the books
    note string doesn't get derailed.
    
**************************************************************************

For All Those Who Were Indian in a Former Life

by Andy Smith


The New Age movement has sparked new interest in Native American 
Traditional spirituality among white women who claim to be feminists.  
Indian spirituality, with its respect for nature and the interconnectedness 
of all things, is often presented as the panacea for all individual and 
global problems.  Not surprisingly, many white "feminists" see the 
opportunity to make a great profit from this new craze.  They sell sweat 
lodges or sacred pipe ceremonies, which promise to bring individual and 
global healing.  Or they sell books and records that supposedly describe 
Indian traditional practices so that you, too, can be Indian.  Lynn 
Andrews, author of Medicine Woman, Jaguar Woman, et al., is one of many 
profiting from Indian spirituality these days.

On the surface, it may appear that this new craze is based on a respect for 
Indian spirituality.  In fact, the New Age movement is part of a very old 
story of white racism and genocide against the Indian people.

The "Indian" ways that these white, New Age "feminists" are practicing have 
little grounding in reality.  For instance, Agnes Whistling Elk, the 
"medicine woman" in Lynn Andrews's works, is undoubtedly fictional.  She is 
Cree, but she speaks Lakota and Hopi.  Medicine Woman describes no genuine 
Cree practices.

True spiritual leaders do not make a profit from their teachings, whether 
it's through selling books, workshops, sweat lodges, or otherwise.  
Spiritual leaders teach the people because it is their responsibility to 
pass what they have learned from their elders to the younger generations.  
They do not charge for their services.

Furthermore, the idea that an Indian medicine woman would instruct Lynn 
Andrews, a white woman, to preach the "true path" of Indian spirituality 
sounds more reminiscent of evangelical Christianity than traditional Indian 
spirituality.  Indian religions are community-based, not proselytizing 
religions.  For this reason, there is not one Indian religion, as many New 
Agers would have you believe.  Indian spiritual practices reflect the needs 
of a particular community.  Indians do not generally believe that their way 
is "the" way, and consequently, they have no desire to tell outsiders about 
their practices.  Also, considering how many Indians there are who do not 
know the traditions, why would a medicine woman spend so much time teaching 
a white woman?  A medicine woman would be more likely to advise a white 
woman to look into her own culture and find what is liberating in it.

However, white women seem determined not to look into their own cultures 
for sources of strength.  This is puzzling, since pre-Christian European 
cultures are also earth-based and contain many of the same elements that 
white women are ostensibly looking for in Native American cultures.  This 
phenomenon leads me to suspect that there is a more insidious motive for 
white "feminists" latching onto Indian spirituality.

When white "feminists" see how white people have historically oppressed 
others and how they are coming very close to destroying the earth, the 
often want to disassociate themselves from their whiteness.  They do this 
opting to "become Indian."  In this way, they can escape responsibility and 
accountability for white racism.

Of course, white "feminists" want to become only partly Indian.  They do 
not want to be part of our struggles for survival against genocide, and 
they do not want to fight for treaty rights or an end to substance abuse or 
sterilization abuse.  They do not want to do anything that would tarnish 
their romanticized notions of what it means to be an Indian.

Moreover, white women want to become Indian without holding themselves 
accountable to Indian communities.  If they did, they would have to listen 
to Indians telling them to stop carrying around sacred pipes, stop doing 
their own sweat lodges, and stop appropriating our spiritual practices.  
Rather, these New Agers see Indians as romanticized gurus who exist only to 
meet their consumerist needs.  Consequently, they do not understand Indian 
people, or our struggles for survival, and thus they can have no genuine 
understanding of Indian spiritual practices.

While New Agers may thing that they are escaping white racism by becoming 
"Indian," they are, in fact, continuing the same genocidal practices of 
their forefathers/foremothers.  The one thing that has maintained the 
survival of Indian people through 500 years of colonialism has been the 
spiritual bonds that keep us together.  When the colonizers saw the 
strength of our spirituality, they tried to destroy Indian religions by 
making them illegal.  They forced Indian children into white missionary 
schools and cut their tongues if they spoke their native languages.  
Sundances were made illegal and Indian participation in the Ghost Dance 
precipitated the Wounded Knee massacre.  Our colonizers recognized that it 
was our spirituality that maintained our spirit of resistance and sense of 
community. Even today, Indians are the only people in the United States who 
do not have religious freedom.  This was made clear when the Supreme Court 
recently ruled that the First Amendment does not guarantee our right to use 
peyote in sacred ceremonies.

Many white, New Age "feminists," such as Lynn Andrews, are continuing this 
practice of destroying Indian spirituality.  They trivialize Native 
American practices so that these practices lose their spiritual force.  
They have the white privilege and power to make themselves heard at the 
expense of Native Americans (Lynn Andrews's books have sold more than all 
books by Native writers combined).  Consumers like what many of these 
writers have to tell them and do not want to be concerned with the facts 
presented by Native Americans.  Our voices are silenced, and consequently, 
the younger generation of Indians who are trying to find their way back to 
the Old Ways become hopelessly lost in this morass of consumerist 
spirituality.

These practices also promote the subordination of Indian women to white 
women.  Many white "feminists" tell us how greedy we are when we don't 
share our spirituality, and that we have to tell them everything they want 
to know because prophecies say we must.  Apparently, it is our burden to 
service white women's needs rather than to spend time organizing within our 
own communities.

The New Age movement completely trivializes the oppression we as Indian 
women face: that Indian women are forcibly sterilized and are tested with 
unsafe drugs such as Depo-Provera; that we have a life expectancy of 47 
years; that we generally live below the poverty level and face a 75 percent 
unemployment rate.  No, ignoring our realities, the New Age movement sees 
Indian women as cool and spiritual and, therefore, available to teach white 
women to be cool and spiritual.

This trivialization of our oppression is compounded by the fact that, 
nowadays, anyone can be Indian if she wants to be.  All that is required is 
that a white woman be Indian in a former life or that she take part in a 
sweat lodge or be mentored by a "medicine woman" or read a book by Lynn 
Andrews.

Since, according to this theory, anyone can now be "Indian," the term 
"Indian" no longer refers specifically to those groups of people who have 
survived 500 years of colonization and genocide.  This phenomenon furthers 
the goals of white supremacists to abrogate treaty rights and to take away 
what little we have left by promoting the idea that some Indians needs to 
have their land base protected, but that even more Indians (those that are 
really white) have plenty of land.  According to this logic, "Indians" as a 
whole no not need treaty rights.  When everyone becomes "Indian," it is 
easy to lose sight of the specificity of oppression faced by those who are 
Indian in this life.  It is no wonder we have such a difficult time getting 
non-Indians to support our struggles when the New Age movement has 
completely disguised our oppression.

The most disturbing aspect of these racist practices is that they are 
promoted in the name of feminism.  Sometimes, it seem that I can't open a 
feminist periodical without seeing ads with little medicine wheel designs 
promoting white "feminist" businesses.  I can't seem to go to a feminist 
conference without the only Indian presenter being the woman who begins the 
conference with a ceremony.  Participants feel so "spiritual" after this 
opening that they fail to notice the absence of Indian women in the rest of 
the conference or that nobody is discussing any pressing issues in Native 
American communities.  And I certainly can't go to a feminist bookstore 
without seeing Lynn Andrews's books all over the place.  It seems that, 
while feminism is supposed to signify the empowerment of all women, it 
obviously does not include Indian women.

If white feminists are going to act in solidarity with their Indian 
sisters, they are going to have to take a stand against Indian spiritual 
abuse.  Feminist book and record stores should stop selling these products, 
and feminist periodicals should stop advertising these products.  Women who 
call themselves feminists should denounce exploitative practices wherever 
they see them.

Many white feminists have claimed that Indians are not respecting "freedom 
of speech" by demanding that whites stop promoting and selling books that 
exploit Indian spirituality.  However, promotion of this material is 
destroying freedom of speech for Native Americans by ensuring that our 
voices will never be heard.  Furthermore, feminists already make choices 
about what they will promote.  I haven't seen many books by right-wing, 
fundamentalist women sold in feminist bookstores, since feminists recognize 
that these books are oppressive to women.  It is not a radical move to ask 
that white women extend their feminist concerns to include Indian women.  
The issue is not censorship; the issue is racism.  Feminists must make a 
choice; will they respect Indian political and spiritual autonomy or will 
they promote materials that are fundamentally racist under the guise of 
"freedom or speech?"

Unfortunately, our requests that white feminists stop this exploitation 
usually fall on deaf ears.  For instance, in one story I heard, a group of 
Indian women confronted Lynn Andrews about the inaccuracies in her writings 
at one of her presentations.  The white women there told the Indian women 
that they did not know what they were talking about, and the reason they 
knew that Lynn Andrews was right is because they were all reincarnated 
Indians!  At another event, I heard that a white woman was consoling Lynn 
Andrews about that nasty confrontation, and Lynn Andrews replied: That's 
okay; it was just a bunch of drunk Indians at the park.  Alas, racism and 
profit-making always seem to get in the way of solidarity between white and 
Indian women.

However, white feminists should know that as long as they take part in 
Indian spiritual abuse, either by being consumers of it or by refusing to 
take a stand on it, Indian women will consider white "feminists" to be 
nothing more than agents in the genocide of our people.

Our spirituality is not for sale.

*********************************************************************
Andy Smith (Cherokee) is a cofounder of Women of All Red Nations (WARN) in 
Chicago.

From usenet rec.humor.funny:

	Taken from the Student (Edinburgh University internal newspaper)
	Thursday, the 17th of May 1990.

	RUMMIDGE - English Professor Philip Swallow caused a storm of
	protest this week when he awarded the Germaine Greer prise for
	Feminist Literature to Ms Barbara Cartland, the popular romantic
	novelist.  Members of the English department have threatened strike,
	and second year lectures given by Professor Swallow were disrupted
	by a walkout of students.

    Iron and Silk (I think that's what it's called) - by Mark Salzman.  
    
    This is a collection of charming and insightful anecdotes, wonderfully
    written (i.e. gently written and well written - you feel as if you're
    there - and also written to give a sense of wonder to everyday events). 
    The anecdotes are about an American (the author) who travels for
    several years to teach English at a medical university in the Hunan
    Province of China.  It reveals a lot about the way traditional Chinese
    think, how they feel, and the cultural variations between us all....
    
    -Jody
    

  "An Unknown Woman" by Alice Koller,
   first published 1982 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston

   A dear friend lent me her autographed copy of this marvelous book.
   
   In this autobiographical work Alice Koller, fresh from earning her
   doctorate in philosphy from Harvard, takes a courageous look at
   where she's been and where she's going.  

   I can only say it's an exploration of the relationships between
   men and women, mothers and daughters.  To say much more would 
   give too much away.

   Thanks for this book, Linda.

   Pam

    "Stations of Solitude" By Alice Koller.
    
    This is the follow-up book to the previously mentioned "An Unkown
    Woman".  It was published this year.
    
    I have read both, loved them, feel very close to her through her
    writing.  Two sagas of a woman alone in the world (save her german
    shepherds) and how she chose to deal with it.

	Making All the Difference - Inclusion, Exclusion and American Law
	Martha Minow,
	Cornell University Press.
	ISBN 0-8014-2446-1  $29.95 (at Harvard COOP in Cambridge)

from the book jacket:

"Should a court order medical treatment for a severely disabled newborn in
the face of the parents' refusal to authorize it?  How does the law apply
to a neighborhood that objects to a group home for mentally retarded people?
Does equality mean treating everyone the same, even if such treatment affects
some people adversely?  Does a state requirement of employee maternity leave
serve or violate the commitment to gender equality?

"Martha Minow takes a hard look at the way our legal system functions in
dealing with people on the basis of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion
and disability.  Minow confronts a variety of dilemnas of difference resulting
from contradictory legal strategies -- strategies that attempt to correct
inequalities by sometimes recognizing and sometimes ignoring differences.
Exploring the historical sources of ideas about difference, she offers
challenging alternative ways of conceiving traits that legal and social
institutions have come to regard as "different."  She argues, in effect,
for a reconstructed jurisprudence based on the ability to recognize and
work with preceptible forms of difference.

"Minow is passionately interested in the people -- "different" people --
whose lives are regularly (mis)shaped and (mis)directed by the legal system's
ways of handling them.  Drawing on literary and feminist theories and the
insights of anthroplogy and social history, she identifies the unstated
assumptions that tend to regenerate discrimination through the very
reforms that are supposed to elimiate it.  Education for handicapped children,
conficts between job and family responsibilities, bilingual education, 
Native American land claims -- these are among the concrete problems
she discusses from a fresh angle of vision.


-----

Martha (my cousin, in case you were wondering) is a Professor of Law at
Harvard University.  While the book begins and ends with a quote from
Sesame Street, "which of these things is not like the other?",  I would
warn you that this a scholarly essay directed at law students, jurists,
and people in the political arena: it is not a popularization by any means.

From the conclusion:

"Boundaries and categories of some form are inevitable.  They are necessary
to our efforts to organize perceptions and to form judgments.  But boundaries
are also points of connection.  Categories are humanly made, and mutable.
The differences we identify and emphasize are expresssions of ourselves
and our values.  What we do with difference, and whether we acknowledge
our own participation in the meanings of the differences we assign to others,
are choices that remain.  The experts in nineteenth-century anesthesiology did
not stop to ask whether they properly understood the pain of others.  We
can do better.  As Nancy Hartstock observes: "It is only through the variety
of relations constructed by the plurality of beings that truth can be known and
community constructed."  Then we can constitute ourselves as members of
conflicting communities with enough reciporocal regard to talk across
differences.  We engender mutual regard for pain we know and pain we
do not understand.

-----

Martin.

    I've been on SF kick lately, reading and re-reading some of 
    Sheri S. Tepper's books.  Just finished "The Gate To Women's Country",
    a post-holocaust story describing a society split into matriarchal
    and patriarchal societies -- really fascinating stuff!  

    
    
    I hope it's under the tree 25th December!
    
    CQ

    Easier to find will be her latest book (in hardcover)
    "Raising the Stones".   My next read, for sure!  Her other stuff is
    great also (and sometimes rather wierdly ecological, such as her
    book "Grass").
    
    Oh, and for you Gaia/Goddess fans, I heartily recommend David Brin's
    new book, "Earth".
    
    

    The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay is fantasy at its
    best!
    
    -Jody
    

	Just finished Tigana also by Guy Gavriel Kay.  I'm now inspired to 
go back and try the Fionvar Tapestry again.  (got distracted the first time...)

Tracey

    "Dreamsnake" by Vonda MacIntyre...
    
    This is a Science Fantasy novel about a young woman (named Snake)
    during her "proving year" as a healer, during which time she must
    travel about, healing people, to prove herself as a healer to her
    teachers.  She uses snakes in the healing process (by
    enhancing/changing the chemical properties of their venom.)  The book
    is set in the distant post-holocaust future.
    
    This book has a very strong, very likeable, very realistic woman as
    it's protagonist.  In the course of the book they describe her
    relationships with her lovers, her friends, her "family" (sort of) very
    well.  But what I *especially* like about the book (in addition to the
    fact that the plot was rivetting) was how it dealt with certain
    subjects...
    
    For instance, sex is dealt with very frankly and forthrightly in the
    society MacIntyre develops.  Homosexuality, bisexuality and polygamy
    are all treat incidentally as if they were no big deal.  I thought the
    author did an amazing job of leaving behind her Western-society
    prejudices in developping the societies she discusses, and the result
    is terrific.
    
    (Be warned: once you get started this is a can't-put-it-down book.)
    
    D!

    re: 42.84
    
    Where, oh where, did you find the last book ?! I've book looking for
    that one for what seems forever !
    
    Joan G.
    

    I went to a SF convention.  I'd been looking for 2 years.  I think the
    if you request it at bookstores they'll order it, but I don't think
    it's out in paperback yet.  There's a few people already queued up to
    borrow mine when I'm done, but I think Bonnie Reinke may also have a
    copy...
    
    -Jody
    

    I do have a copy and for sufficient collateral will lend it and
    or Tigana.
    
    Bonnie

	re: where to find the last Fionavar book.

	Find someone who is a member of the Science Fiction Book Club and have 
them order it for you.  I get all three from SFBC.  The cost is a bit higher
than you'd pay for a paperback., say around $6, but it's much more durable than
a paperback as well.  (A consideration for people like me who 1) read favorite
books mulitple times and 2) drag books along wherever and whenever I go.)

	SFBC occassionally puts out a catalog with the numbers of ALL the books 
they have in stock (not just the ones, featured in this month's flyer).  I try 
to remember to check tonight to see if we have one on hand...

Tracey

    Thanks all for info. re: the last Finoavar book. Guess I'll just have to
    break down and buy the hardcover ...I've been *SO* curious about what
    finally happens for so long. (of course, I *KNOW* that I'll end up
    buying all three in hardcover now, just to have a matching set :-) ).
    
    regards,
    
    Joan G.
     

	Well I did remember to look for the SFBC catalog, but we apparently 
trashed it during one of our semiannual cleaning frenzies... :-)

	Sorry.  You might try the SF notefile.  Surely someone in there has the 
catalog.

Tracey

	Wouldnacha know it?  As soon as I post that I *don't* have a catalog,
I get one in the mail... :-)

	The order numbers are:

	The Darkest Road		107011	$8.98
	The Summer Tree			063578	$7.98
	Tigana				175646	$10.98
	The Wandering Fire		101345	$5.98

Tracey

(I've been waiting to post this 'til the file stopped being under attack,
but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen, so....  Ray)
    

Karen Joy Fowler:  Let's talk about some other women writers.  What about
    Sherri Tepper's "The Gate to Women's Country"?

Pat Murphy:  This is a problem: I would like to be supportive of other women
    who write science fiction.  But what do you do when you find a book that is
    clearly a feminist novel that you find so wrong-headed that you can't abide
    it?  That was the case for me with "The Gate to Women's Country".  I like
    Tepper's writing; I was drawn into the book; yet I found problems with the
    basic premise.

    (-- plot summary removed -- Ray)

    I had major problems with this because of the nature-nurture argument. 
    Think about it.  You take a young boy from age five to fifteen and put him
    in a very aggressive, violent culture.  And then at age fifteen, you say,
    "He's awfully fond of violence.  Oh well, -- it must be genetic."  It seems
    to me that it's a wrong-headed biological setup.

Lisa Goldstein:  I was surprised at my response, but I felt that this made the
    men look really stupid.

Murphy:  Yes.

(-- some discussion of stupid men removed (: >,) -- Ray)

Murphy:  The other odd thing about that book was that you have an all-female
    community -- except when the warriors come over for festivals -- yet no
    homosexuality exists.  Theoretically, the women go along for months with no
    sex, and they never consider turning to each other.  It seems to me she's
    overlooking a pretty basic human drive.  So I felt there was a homophobic
    overtone that disturbed me.


-- From "The State of Feminism in Science Fiction", "Science Fiction Eye",
Issue #7. 

The whole discussion is worth reading, but I particularly enjoyed Murphy
saying "Joanna Russ is still my favorite" and Fowler responding "That goes
without saying."  Good writers with good taste! 

Ray

    My son Peter gave me a really super book for Christams - Feminism
    and Science Fiction by Sarah Lefanu. I've been having trouble
    putting it down while making pies and dinner.
    
    Bonnie

    Just finished a book called "Oranges are not the Only Fruit" by
    Jeanette Winterson.  I read it on the recommendation of some
    net.friends and I really liked it.
    
    It is the story of an English girl growing up under the control of her
    evangelical mother and her coming out as a Lesbian.  It's very well
    written, especially for a writer so young and her first work!  
    
    I don't know if it is strictly autobiographical, but the protagonist's
    name is "Jeanette" and the blurb in the back says the author grew up in
    a Pentecostal Evangelist home in Lancashire (which is where the story
    took place) so I assume quite a bit of it is autobiographical.
    
    I recommend it heartily.  I got it at Wordsworth in Harvard Sq.
    
    D!

    
    I'll probably regret this but... Before Christmas sometime, a friendly 
    co-worker told me (and our boss) about a book she had, said it was really 
    hard to find.  Our boss was embarrassed, but I was curious.  I found it 
    tonight while browsing for something else.  (Sure... :-)
    
    It's a little red book and the lettering on the front is this:
    
                   How to 
               Satisfy a Woman 
                _Every_Time_... 
          and have her beg for more!
     
               by Naura Hayden
    
               It Really Works!
    
          The First and _Only_ Book 
         That Tells You _Exactly_ How 
    
    Out of a Forward, Introduction, 9 chapters and an Afterword, Chapter 5
    and beyond aren't of much use to me.  The first 4 however, are pretty 
    good.  There are copies on the shelf right now at The Open Book in
    Westborough. :-)
    
    CQ

    
    re .96: Oranges are not the only fruit was made into a 3x1hr mini
    series by BBC - I'm told that it has been sold to the US so it should
    show up there sometime (Masterpiece theatre perhaps?)
    
    /. Ian .\ 

    Re .96 & .98 ( Oranges are not the only fruit )
    
    They repeated the series last Sat./Sun./Mon. on BBC in the UK. I saw
    the 1st part but since its a real downer made a point of avoiding the
    next 2. Excellent acting by Geraldine Mcewan (sp?) as the mum, and the
    part I saw brought out the harm that religion does to young kids very
    well ( hence "codswallop" to circles of stones :-) ). I meant to ask
    this in some notes-conference so why not here. A reference was made to
    the "Plain Truth". Which religious lot push out this mag. ? I didn't
    think it was the Pentacostalist Evangelist but what do I know ? All I
    know about are the "Wee Frees".
    
    -Shantanu

    re:.98
    
    It's recently been shown on the cable channel Arts & Entertainment.
    
    --- jerry

	"First man in Rome"    by the woman who wrote the thorn birds.


	I haven't finished it yet, so there's no spoiler.

	It's a novel based in 110-95 BC.

	She has done a massive amount of research into this period, so a great 
	deal is based on fact.

	It goes into the wars at that time, how rome actually governed itself,
	and the other countries it tried to take over.

	How the plebs moved from being almost nonentities, to a house more
	powerful than the senate............

	Ace,

	Heather

    
    RE -1
    
    Colleen something?
    Colleen McCulloch?
    
    'gail

	Yup, that's she


	Heather

    Colleen McCullough..another Aussie!
    
    Don
    *8-)
    
    
    P.S. She also wrote "Thorn Birds"
    

_Picture This_ by Joseph Heller (who also happened to be the fellow who
wrote _Catch 22_, and the phrase).  Some quotes:

"The party of liberal democrats of which Pericles was the head rose to power 
in 461 B.C.  A casualty list for 459 B.C. contains the names of Athenians 
who died that year in wars in places like Cyprus, Egypt, Halieis, Aegina, and 
the Megarid.  The year officially was a year of peace.  The wars they died in 
were not wars.
They were police actions."

...

"And so in what was nominally a democracy, says Thucydides, power was
really in the hands of its first citizen.
It was only with the death of Pericles that true democracy came at last
to Athens; the powers of government passed into the hands of her
businessmen, and the city was doomed."

...

"Just government cannot exist in the civilized world.  About the rest of 
the world we do not know."

...

"From Athens to Syracuse by oar and sail was just about equivalent to the 
journey by troopship today from California to Vietnam, or from Washington, 
D.C., to the Beirut airport in Lebanon or to the Persian Gulf.
Do not make war in a hostile distant land unless you intend to live there.."

...

"The motion in the Athenian Assembly to invade Syracuse to restore order in
Sicily was deceitful, corrupt, stupid, chauvinistic, irrational, and suicidal.
It carried by a huge majority."

...

"The trial of Socrates took place in a democracy.
...
Socrates had survived the lawless rule of the Thirty, going freely about
the city continuing to be Socrates, although he was brought in once and
warned."

...

"The trial of Socrates was a fair one.  There was no manufactured evidence,
no lying witnesses.  There was NO evidence, No witnesses. All in the jury 
knew that.  A lucky thing about the rule of law in the democratic society 
Anytus had helped restore was that charges against a person no longer had 
to be proved.  They had only to be convincing.  Due process was observed.  
Justice was done.
Even Socrates did not complain."


...

"Said Cornelius Vanderbilt, whom some biographical dictionaries still, 
archaically, call an American capitalist of the nineteenth century:
'Law?  What do I care about the law?  H'ain't I got the power?'  Lacking
higher education, Cornelius Vanderbilt nevertheless formulated into
simple English the principle of political science known everywhere
now as Vanderbilt's First Law of Government."

...

"It was William Henry Vanderbilt, the son of Cornelius, who in 1882 laid the
foundation for the study of political science as an academic discipline with
the dictum now known universally as Vanderbilt's Second Law of Government:
'The public be damned'"

...


The book is, shall we say, full of it.  Enjoy.

Eugene

    hpstek::xia, what's going on?  I've seen 42.105 as a new-note three
    seperate times now.

    re .106,
    
    Sorry, typo corrections.                        

Anyone interested in a feminist analysis of terrorism might want to read 
*The Demon Lover: On the Sexuality of Terrorism* (1989), by Robin Morgan, 
current editor of Ms. Magazine.

Morgan also refers to another book connecting women, war, and the world economy:

"For a thoroughly documented analysis of how the patriarchal world economic 
order -- in the form of the United Nations System of National Accounts -- 
institutionalizes placing its highest value on the means of death while 
erasing such positive contributions as women's labor or environmental 
replenishment, see Marilyn J. Waring, *If Women Counted: A New Feminist 
Economics* (New York and San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989)."

D.

    _Miss Manners' Guide to the Turn of the Millenium_
    
    Of particular interest are her comments on mixing social manners and
    business settings, but I enjoyed all of it.  Talk about a role model!

This is a good time to [re-]read _Three Guineas_, written in the
late 1930's by Virginia Woolf -- ideas on preventing war.

	MKV

    I just finished reading Ann Beattie's latest book, "Picturing Will." 
    It's a beautifully written, short novel about people trying to cope
    with the problems of contemporary life.
    
    The main character is Jody, a photographer, who tries to balance being
    a single mother with a new relationship and strong career ambitions. 
    The other characters are her ex-husband, Wayne, who never really wanted
    to settle down or be forced to make any commitments to anyone; Wayne's
    third wife, Corky, who wants the traditional roles of wife and mother
    and whose personal kindness almost overwhelms everyone she comes in
    contact with; and Mel, Jody's new SO, who accidentally discovers while
    trying to win a place in her life that, for him, the most meaningful
    role of all is that of being a parent to her son, Will.
    
    Mel later writes to Will, "I didn't see you as a hurdle: You were a
    stepping-stone to her heart.  Then, to my surprise, I started to love
    you."
    
    As one of the characters muses, "Life was always an adventure if you
    adapted to circumstances."
    
    And, "Adults keep their sanity by ruling out excessive speculation."
    
    
    Lorna
    

    after several months of not having time to read at all (gack!!!) I
    picked up Ursula LeGuin's latest, the 4th and last book in the Earthsea
    trilogy :-), _Tehanu_.  It tells of Tenar (_the_Tombs_of_Atuan_), her
    life, her power.  Read'em all...
    
    As usual, this author leaves me more or less dumbstruck with awe.  How
    can *anyone* write such spare, full, words?  I am not much of a poetry
    fan, but how I read LeGuin is very like how I think poets must be read;
    words chosen for the meaningS they convey, the juxtaposition of phrases
    and images, the meanings beyond the words.  The phrases that stand on
    their own, for their meaning or beauty.  Examples,
    
    	"Freedom is not a gift given, but a choice made."
    			from Tenar's thoughts, in _Tombs_
    
    	"...in time, nothing can be without becoming..."
    			from a legend about the origins of dragons
    				and humans, in _Tehanu_
    
    Sara

    Re .9: OK, so this is a little late. ;-)
    
    I recently read "Jump-Off Creek", by Molly Gloss, and was very
    impressed; I'd read other "woman in the wilderness" works, usually
    actual journals of women homesteaders, but this was something a little
    different. For one thing, the writing is very spare and tight; not much
    emotionalism at all, just the effort involved in staying alive in the
    wilderness. In addition, this novel chose to focus on people who "came
    too late" in the rush for land, and had to take land in the mountains
    that wasn't as fertile or as easy to work as that in the plains. (This
    isn't to say that life was a piece of cake for the homesteaders on the
    plains either, but the folks on Jump-Off Creek had even more problems
    to deal with.)
    
    The woman protagonist is a middle-aged widow who, against the advice of
    her family, decides she's had enough of belonging to someone else - a
    father, a husband - and, no matter what the cost, wants a place of her
    own. The descriptions of the hardships she faces just to find her land,
    and then to derive a living from it, are neither sentimentalized nor
    over-dramatized; they're just stated. This tone reinforced for me the
    sheer weariness of survival when you must find, create, or tend
    everything you eat, every bit of shelter, and every piece of wood you
    burn. 
    
    She isn't solitary, even in her mountain homestead. There are a pair of
    saddle-tramp types living not far from her, and a trio of
    wolf-trappers, and a few other homesteaders. All of them have their own
    reasons for trying to make a living in this wilderness, and it's
    interesting to watch them form their own version of a community.
    
    I'd recommend the book; give it a try.
    
    -b

    
    Wow!  You read the book!  I wonder if I'll be able to find it in my
    local store.
    
    CQ  

    Molly Gloss's "Jump-Off Creek" was available at Wordsworth in Harvard
    Square last I checked, so it's probably still in print.  -b, you forgot
    to mention the way cool gun fight!  Heck, the =wn= thrillseekers will
    think it's just dirt and snow!  (: >,)
    
    Molly Gloss has also written some fine science fiction stories, but I
    haven't found any other books by her.
    
    Ray

If You Want to Write--A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit
by Brenda Ueland
Graywolf Press   1987  (first published in 1938)
ISBN 0-915308-94-0
179pp

Found this one in a mail-order catalog for books.  This is not your average
book about writing; doesn't cover the mechanics at all.  [Actually, it's
not just about writing but "anything that you love and want to do or to
make."]  From the blurb:
     [This book] is about having values, about belief (in the imagination
     and its relation to personal integrity), and about the bravery of
     coming to understand yourself and of putting marks down on paper.

Ms. Ueland taught writing; this book evolved from her notes and her
experiences.  Both the author and the book (it's difficult for me to
separate the two) are inspiring, honest, supportive, and at times downright
funny.  Some of my favorite chapter titles:
     ~ Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say
     ~ Be careless, reckless! Be a lion, be a pirate, when you write
     ~ Why Women who do too much housework should neglect it for their writing
     ~ Art is infection
     ~ Keep a slovenly, headlong, impulsive, honest diary

I'm not fond of self-help-type books and generally ignore external
motivation of any kind, but this book puts me in a good frame of mind
and leaves me with a desire to write.  

***************************************************************************
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf--A Story of Life for All Ages
by Leo Buscaglia
Slack, Incorporated   1982
ISBN 0-943432-89-8

This very short book came my way last year when my mother died.  It's about
Freddie and his fellow leaves, and how they change through the seasons,
eventually falling to the ground to die.  It's a very "natural" allegory of
the life-and-death cycle, written for children, but appropriate for most
anyone.

***************************************************************************
Give Her This Day--A Daybook of Women's Words
edited and compiled by Lois Stiles Edgerly
Tilbury House   1990
ISBN 0-937966-35-5
388pp

Came across this one recently at New England Bookfair.  From the blurb:
     A unique compilation about nearly every subject under the sun,
     _Give_Her_This_Day_ is arranged in daybook format, with each day
     containing a piece of writing by a [pioneering, nineteenth-century
     American] woman born on that day.  A variety of subjects are covered:
     from relations of the sexes to peace and social justice; from a
     gathering of saints to Washington gossip; from crossing the
     Continental Divide to being presented to the Queen of England.
     Photographs of over 125 of the women are included, along with
     insightful biographies and bibliographic notes compiled by Lois Edgerly.

Read only at my birth day (shared with Lucy Stone!) and January and part
of February, but so far I like this book a lot.  Most enlightening.

nla

    I found this in a used-book store. Hysterical. Also painful when you
    recognize yourself ;-)/2

    Dana
    ===============================================================
"When To Dump Your Date" by Lois Romano
subtitled "375 Litmus Tests to Tell If the Chemistry is Wrong"

  How can you tell someone you have a crush on that the way he
butters his bread makes you want to dump your coffee in his lap?
Or that the way she talks baby talk to her cat makes you want to
set the kitty litter on fire?
  The sad truth is this: you can't say a word. You can't do a thing.
Head for the door; ask for the check; return to the drawing board;
curse the gods; and renew your subscription to _Singles Digest_. No
love life is safe from the Litmus Test.
  There are those magically enlightening moments in every 'affaire
de coeur' when the entire possibility -or impossibility- of a 
relationship is summed up at once. It is that split second when a
seemingly insignificant gesture, an offhand comment, or an ugly
sports jacket, suddenly strikes at the heart of your neuroses (or
snobbery) and changes your romantic destiny.
  In the scientific world, litmus tests detect the presence of acid.
In the modern world - where "experimentation" mand nitpicking 
quests for The Perfect Mate are facts of life - Litmus Tests detect
the presence of...imperfection.
  They are warning signals. ... Litmus Tests are romantic pop quizzes
that tell us whther someone is worthy of our affection. And when 
the Test strikes - when short socks is all you see as you look at an 
otherwise perfect honey - nothing can save the date, the lover, the
potential soulmate.
....
  However wierd, judgemental or idiosyncratic they appear, our Love
Litmus Tests are an emotional reality - and one only our romantic
brain cells can interpret.
  "A white tie," says a lady from Missouri, "tells me the guy is 
either a gambler or he's seen 'Guys and Dolls' too many times."
  "I would summarily dismiss a man with thin lips. Where I come 
from, we call it chicken lips," says author Barbara Howar. "I 
think it indicates a stinginess of spirit. The eyes can lie, the 
lips can't."
  Things used to be a lot simpler. Love choices had less to do with 
chipped nail polish and stretch bikini underwear than they did with 
ethnicity, religion and social status. Thirty years ago, a woman
would not reject a man on the basis of his underwear. She wasn't 
supposed to have seen it yet.
...
  A Brazilian journalist told me he lived with a woman for five years,
and for five years it drove him crazy that she put the toilet paper
on the roll upside down. It came up over and over as the romance 
disintegrated. "It was important," he said, pouting. He was serious.
...
  "The more rartional litmus tests don't seem to be associated
with long-term happy relationships and marriage anymore," says
Dr. Ellen Frank, associate professor of psychiatry at the Univ-
ersity of Pittsburg. (T)he University...conducted a study of 131
couples todetermnine, among other things, what initially attracted 
spouses-to-be to each other. The result showed that those who checked
off such things as "the relationship was never dull; physically 
attractive; beautiful, or handsome; sexually exciting; romantic;
life of the party" were still happily married. Couples who married 
on the basis of such things as "intellectually challenging; dependable;
maturity; financial security; and common interests" ended up at the
marriage counselor.
  "We have found that people tend to pay more attention to these
seemingly frivolous, irrational tests, and they probably lead to
happier relationships in the end," concludes Frank. 
  So here are true tales of tests from people of all walks.

====The tests are broken down into 16 chapters. Some include:

Chapter 1 - Dining Out

  Consider Frank the lawyer. ...This is his very own Litmus Test and 
it is called The Pizza Principle: If you meet an attractive woman
and you're trying to figure out where to take herand you decide 
you don't feel right taking her out for pizza, then you probably 
shouldn't ask her out in the first place. Because if you feel com-
pelled to dress up and spend a lot of money on someone, it says two 
things: the woman is a snob, and you feel vastly inferior to her.
  
  Avoid:
  Women who sit and watch you eat because they'e dieting. They should
be asked to leave the restaurant.
  Men who order whipped, frosty drinks that come complete with a
straw and a little umbrella.
  Women who order prime rib in a seafood restaurant.
  Anyone who insists on a rare hamburger at McDonald's.
  Men who call the waitress "dear."
  Men who brag about their knowledge of wine and then order Lancer's 
burgundy . With lobster.

Chapter 3 - English Lit(mus)

  Books. They can bring out the intellectual snob in alll of us.

  That bookcase...is like a Rorschach test...this literary Ink Blot
tells you these things:
  He knows he has struck gold if she has 'Joy of Sex' with bookmarks
in it.
  Hermann Hesse is probably left over from college. it goes along 
with the ponytail. His ponytail.
  Alphabetizes bookshelves: Person has a dangerous amount of leisure
time on his hands.
  Complete works of any author: Person has a completion fetish and
the love affair will be very difficult to end.
  His Marquis de Sade: You're taking a big chance.




Chapter 4 - Overnight Sensations

  How easy it used to be when the first night together was the
wedding night, when two people embarked on those awkwardly 
intimate first moments already convinced that they were sure
of each other...or at least after convincing themselves that 
they were convinced they were sure of each other.
  Nowadays, instead of First Night being graduation day for boy
and girl who have become husband and wife, the First Night is
the College Boards (multiple choice on birth control, true or
false on performance, fill-in-the-blank on infections) that
determines whether there will be a Second Night.
  No matter how great things seemed to be going all week long
or how much you laughed and necked on the first date, if you can't
get past the first ten hours with your clothes off, forget it. 
Someone has failed the Litmus Test.

  First Night turn-offs aren't confined to the big blunders, a fact
that discouraged First Nighters make clear in recalling sure-fire
bad signs:

  When he starts making Very Important Calls as soon as he walks
into his apartment.
  When he starts making Very Important Calls as soon as he walks
into your apartment. 
  When the bed is the only place to sit when you walk into his
apartment and you realize it could be a very long night.
  When she announces,"I usually never do this on the first date."
  When he says,"This has never happened to me before."
  When she says that you're certainly welcome to stay if you 
want - but don't expect anything to happen.
  When your partner wants to discuss for three hours what it all
means for the future of the relationship.
  Men who start crying because it reminded them of their old
girlfriend.
  Men who tell you it was better than with the old girlfriend.
  Women who murmur "Daddy" in the middle of the night.
  Anyone who sleeps with a night light.
  Men ho think water beds are erotic.
  Anyone who says, "How was it for you?"
  Anyone who asks, "Did you...?"

Chapter Ten - Worldly Goods and Bads

  Posseeeions that tell you what you don't want to know:

  Dogs. A handsome secret service agent in his thirties who is
assigned to protect international officials admitted to a woman
that he "loved my dog more than my own mother." There wasn't 
much hope for him, she concluded.
  Cats. "If a woman starts kissing her cat as soon as I bring her
home, I think that's wasted affection that could be used on me,"
says a radio announcer. "And besides, I wouldn't want to kiss her
after that anyway."
  Stuffed animals. Lonely. In need of friends who don't talk back.
  Knife collection. Likes to stop and look at road accidents.
  Mirrored sunglasses. It will be bad when he wakes up one
morning and realizes he is not Clint Eastwood.
  Beepers. Particularly if taken to bed.
  A custom-framed copy of "Desiderata."
  Gallo wines in an oak rack.
  Nude oil of ex-wife hanging over the couch.
  Melted beer-bottle ashtrays.
  Ceramic souvenirs of Fort Lauderdale.
Chapter 11 - Sports Illustrative

  Cindy, a rather wholesome and pretty coed, was dating three 
young men at once one autumn when she realized that all three
were about to pop The Question.
  Confused and panicked, Cindy devised a test to help her
choose.
  She waited for a glorious fall day and asked each one if
they would like to take a walk along a quiet, tree-lined canal
instead of watching the Chicago Bears play. Two opted for the 
game.
  She married the third one.

  For the most part, spectator sports and women do not mesh.
This is not because women don't like sports. They just like men
better. And understandably believe that men should prefer them
to the NFL playoffs. Consequently, this drives women to make-
believe that they are interested in sports. This could go on 
for years. But this is a terrible mistake. They-re not fooling 
anyone - especially not men, who are likely to think they are
more desperate than athletic.
  There's just nothing worse than women who turn into over-
zealous - not to mention fake - sports fanatics.

  Well, there are some worse things:
  Women who don't play Frisbee because they're afraid of 
breaking their nails.
  Women who wear designer jeans to play touch football.
  Men who wear a baseball cap to sit inside the house alone three
straight days watching baseball.
  Men who don't talk to you for three weeks because you ran 
the wrong pattern in a coed touch-football game.
Chapter 13 - I Should Have Known Better With A Girl Like You

  Against the advice of his friends, a thirty-four-year-old
California businessman asked a twenty-year-old college student
out for dinner. She was beautiful. He was in love. Until Paul
McCartney came on the jukebox.
  "Now tell me," said the woman earnestly, "Paul McCartney:
was he always with Wings?"
  There was really nothing left for the man to say.
  Except one thing.
  "Check!!!"
Chapter 14 - Random Flaws

  Women who wear 14K gold "10" pins.
  Bald men who part their hair to cover the bald spot and when
the wind blows they look like an unwrapped turban.
  Women who crack their knuckles.
  Men who clip grocery coupons.
  Southern men who spend two months at Harvard Law School and
start talking like a Kennedy.
  Men who smoke pastel-colored cigarettes.
  Enthusiastic gum-chewers.
  Men who think you're interested in knowing how broke they are.
  Men who don't take sugar on their breakfast cereal, and brag
about it.
  Anyone who amkes their distaste for smoking a political issue - 
anti-smoking as liberalism. Particularly annoys Republican men.
  Anyone who wakes up to ocheerful in the morning.



Chapter 15 - Famous Last Words

Sometimes all the love of your life has to do is open his or
her mouth and a relatively innocuous sentence can send you
crawling for the door.

  What women DO NOT want to hear:
  "I can see my unborn child in your eyes."
  "Do you think we could sleep together and still be friends?"
  "My wife doesn't understand me."
  "How can you walk in those things?"
  "Give me a call if you want to do something sometime."

  What men DO NOT want to hear:
  "Look, I'm at a point in my life where I'm not about to take any 
shit from anyone."
  "My work comes first."
  "I can't believe you said that - typical Taurus."
  "You remind me of my father."
  "I'm an actress."

  What to say to ruin even the best date:
  "I need my space."
  "I hear you."
  "I want a relationship where I can relate."
  "That's cool."

  Most meaningless line:
  "I love you but I'm not in love with you."
Chapter 16 - Perfection

  In the end, what does it all mean? Will there be a world of
two, a lifetime of moonlight walks and bedroom talks, of rainy
Saturdays and never-lonely Sundays? Who are these perfect people?
Does she read Shakespeare before she falls asleep at night? Do
little children kiss his knees?

HE...
  -cooks your mother breakfast when she unexpectedly shows up
the morning after...and then gives her a lift to work.
  -wouldn't be caught dead in a short-sleeve dress shirt.
  -isn't afraid of talking about romance.
  -goes to church with you on Sunday if you ask him.

SHE...
  -doesn't try to make youir mother her best friend.
  -doesn't own a pink sweater.
  -never means to lie but always gets away with it.
  -isn't on a diet.
  -doesn't get migraines.
  -never sufferes from the delusion that she can be a man's
friend.

well, chapter 14 pretty well denotes both me and my husband... we're obviously
in trouble!

    'The Beauty Myth' by Naomi Wolf
    William Morrow & Co., 1991
    
    I'm nearly 100 pages into this one [an impulse buy Saturday morning]
    which has taken me through an overview and chapters on Work, Culture,
    and [most of] Religion.  Still pending are Sex, Hunger, Violence,
    Beyond.
    
    Trying not to hyperventilate or snap my neck from vigorous nodding.
    [this one makes me want to join a discussion group just so I can talk
    about it with other women ... either that or to buy many copies for
    friends and then strand them at my house for the week-end two weeks
    later]
    
    Just a taste ... the parallel between gains in women's rights and the
    incidence of eating disorders and growth in the cosmetic surgery
    industry; shredding the 'pop-psych 101' evolution fallacy --
    standards of beauty are changing _far_ too rapidly for it to be a valid
    selection/survival criteria; ... 
    
      Annie
    
    
    

    
    	One of my favorites is "Fair and Tender Ladies" by Lee Smith.  
    The format is different...the entire book is letters written by the
    main character (starting from childhood)...
    
    	Since reading it, I've completed "Oral History", "Family Linen",
    "Black Mountain Breakdown", and "Cakewalk"...all by Lee Smith...
    
    	Her fictional books are about women and life in the south...I
    thought they were all excellent reading...
    
    sandy

    I've recently finished reading two novels by a black, American, woman
    writer named Terry McMillan, and found both of them very enjoyable.
    
    The first one I read (and her first book) is called "Mama" and is the
    story of Mildred Peacock, a single mother raising, I think, 5 children. 
    The book begins in the 60's when Mildred is 27 and just about to leave
    her first husband, and father of all her kids, and ends in the 1980's
    when she is in her 40's.  The primary focus of the story is the
    personal growth that both Mildred and her oldest daughter experience as
    they attempt to make lives for themselves in, what often appears to be,
    a hostile society.
    
    The other book is called "Disappearing Acts" and is a love story about
    Zora, a young black school teacher in Brooklyn, who was raised in the
    midwest, and Franklin, a handsome, intelligent, black, construction
    worker with little formal education who grew up on Staten Island. 
    Although this is a love story, it's far from being a romance.  The
    dialogue, conflicts and situations that come up in their relationship
    seemed very real to me.  The story is narrated alternately by both
    Franklin and Zora so the reader is able to to know both their
    viewpoints of the same situation and understand how easily it is for
    people to completely misunderstand each other's motives.  I've never
    been black and never lived in Brooklyn, but I have been in
    relationships before, and this seemed remarkably real to me. 
    
    Lorna
    

    
    re: Terry McMillan
    
    She is wonderful!  I've also read both of those books recently and
    especially loved _Disappearing Acts_.  I found it incredibly vivid and
    *alive*.  Since I've been raving about them so much, several women in
    my office have borrowed both books.. last I heard, they're in the hands
    of reader # 6 or 7. :-)
    
    Phyllis
    

    John Updike: Rabbit at Rest  
     
    Not 100 percent sexism free; however, if a woman wrote this book,
    it would be considered male bashing!
    
    Eileen
    

    John Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living"
    
    How to live in each moment, and bloom in every moment.  How to hang
    with good things AND bad things, and really feel your feelings.
    
    -Jody
    

Journals

    Sue Hubbell         A Country Year
                        The Book of Bees

        Joyous writing about simple things.        

    Sue Bender          Plain and Simple

        Bender is an artist who developed a fascination for the Amish way of
        life after seeing a set of Amish quilts.  On two occasions she went
        to live with Amish families.  This books attempts to describe how 
        that experience of the clash between her "artist's ego" and a society 
        which attempts to be egoless expanded her life.
        

Literacy Criticism/Essays

    Carolyn Heilbrun    Writing a Woman's Life
                        Reinventing Womanhood
                        Hamlet's Mother and Other Women

        "Writing a Woman's Life" examines how women write about their own,
        or other women's, lives.  She discusses "editting out the pain" and
        the lack in the English language of words to fully describe women's
        experience.  After reading this I have a list of dozens of other
        books I want to read.  Heilbrun also writes mysteries under the pen
        name Amanda Cross.

    Andrea Dworkin      Letters from the War Zone
                        Pornography

        Dworkin's name often seems to be invoked as some sort of symbol of
        all that's "wrong" with feminism.  After hearing her name invoked
        in newsprint, on talk shows, and in this file, I decided to go to
        the source.  

        She's angry, sometimes very bitter to listen to, but much of her
        writing also brought me to tears.  I found her writings on pornography
        to be courageous, especially her exploration of the myths surrounding
        the Marquis de Sade.

        I highly recommend her literary critique of "Wuthering Heights", 
        interpreted as a study of obsessive/abusive relationships.


    Kate Millett        Sexual Politics

        Her discussion of Henry Miller and D.H.Lawrence had me laughing out 
        loud.  

    Mary Gordon         Good Boys and Dead Girls

        Reading this put into words my long-standing discomfort with reading
        the works of Faulkner and Updike.  

    Joan Smith          Misogynies

    Judith Martin       Common Courtesies

        This an address Martin gave to the Harvard Business School on the
        dynamics of "good manners" bewteen men and women.  She speaks of the
        need to separate the public from the personal in how we treat
        business associates.

    Nancy Mairs         Plaintext:  Deciphering a Woman's Life

        Mairs writes with humor and anger about her own life.  She has MS
        and speaks unsparingly about herself.

Self-Help

    Harriet Lerner      The Dance of Anger
                        The Dance of Intimacy

        These books describe the emotional "dance" between the self and 
        others - how anger and energy are sometimes misdirected to third
        parties when communication between the principals breaks down.
        

Non-fiction

    Carol Gilligan      In a Different Voice

        A must read.

    Anne Wilson Schaef  Woman's Reality

        I didn't find any solutions here, but there were a lot of "clicks".
        This helped me sort out some of my internal issues from the external
        environment ("Am I crazy or are they?").
    
Fiction

    Barbara Kingsolver  Animal Dreams

    May Sarton          The Reckoning

    Susan Cooper        Under Sea, Under Stone
                        Greenwitch
                        The Dark Is Rising
                        The Silver Tree

                        Seaward
                            

Guilty Pleasures

    Sheila Simonson     Larkspur (a mystery)
                        
                        The Bar-Sinister
                        Lady Elizabeth's Comet
                        Love and Folly
                        A Cousinly Connextion
                        
    Carla Kelly         Libby's London Merchant

    Eleanor Farjeon     Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard

    
    Found a great book by Kim Chernin (who wrote "The Obsession", "The
    Hungry Self" and "Reinveinting Eve") called "The Flame Bearers".  It's
    a novel about a women's religious sect still extant although widely
    scattered after thousands of years.
    
    It is wonderful and full of insight.  And they translate most of the
    Yiddish/Hebrew/Urgaric quotes after they say them, so you don't have to
    know the languages they sometimes speak in.
    
    It's beautifully written.
    
    -Jody
    

    ....No!  I'm out of books, and can't make it to the bookstore
    until tomorrow! )-[
    
    HRH

    
    On my vacation a couple of weeks ago, I read a wonderful thick book,
    
    	Her Mother's Daughter 		by Marilyn French
    
    (This book is a few years old so maybe it's mentioned in one of the
    archived =wn=)
    
    It's a novel written like a biography of 4 generations of women, living
    different lives in different times but carrying with them the same type
    of feelings for and bonds with their mothers. The characters seemed
    VERY real and the book has stayed with me a long time after I finished
    it and gave it to my mother... I loved it!
    
    Ann