TA DA!!! THE FOURTH CARNIVAL OF FEMINISTS!

Apologies to those in different time zones for whom this Carnival is actually coming on or close to December 8. I have divided the posts selected for inclusion into several broad themes (in no particular order), although of course many posts could be placed in multiple categories -- which means you should read them all!  They are well worth it.  UPDATE:    I have posted on Diversity and the Carnival here.

HOW WE BECAME FEMINISTS

In "Warrior Wombs and Radical Training Wheels," the author of Lingual Tremors recalls her feminist upbringing (including the "Sunshine Family," an alternative to Barbie!)  Jenn (the self-described "angry little Asian Canadian Girl") at Reappropriate explains how BLOGGING transformed her from an anti-feminist into a feminist.  Dave at The Galloping Beaver describes the responses that raced through his head when someone first told him he was a feminist. For The Woman in Comfy Shoes, birkenstocks cause feminism. Clare at Ink and Incapability tells us how she came to realize that the "ladette" culture of 1990s Britain (in which "ladettes" matched men in crudity, aggression and drinking) was not in any way a manifestation of real equality. Alas, a Blog provides a thoughtful piece on the meaning of the terms "feminist" and "anti-feminist."

SEX

Holly at Self Portrait As . . . considers how power is understood and distributed when it comes to courtship and sex -- and she gets some bewildered responses when she poses this issue to a group of male Mormon feminists.  Fear of discussing sex permeates even Women's Studies departments, as Aspazia at Mad Melancholic Feminista reveals, as she describes (with frustration) how her department declined to include the term "Sexuality" in its name.  Lis Riba of Riba Rambles debunks in great detail the common myths about Female Sexual Dysfunction (in one of a series of excellent posts about FSD). The Purple Elephant critiques the statement in Patricia Dalton's Washington Post article that, "Women once complained about being reduced to sex objects. Now, their daughters are volunteering to be sex objects."  Alice at Pants that Fit ain't volunteering for nothin' -- she just wants to eat her banana in peace.

THE ARTS

At Composite, Liz Henry examines the powerful response of early 20th century poet Magda Portal to the observation of Peruvian literary essayist Jose Carlos Mariategui that women poets of his day were hampered by an "idiotic modesty--" and how, missing her point, he then went on to single her out as an "exception" to the rule. At Altalk Blog, Liz also tells us about how conceptions of Sappho have evolved over time. At Buzz, Balls & Hype, Dr. Susan O'Doherty counsels a woman author who sometimes receives the supposed compliment that "even men would like your book." In her new blog, My London, Your London, Natalie Bennett reviews women's self-portraits from the Renaissance to the Contemporary era, all displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.  Sour Duck tells us about an art exhibit entitled "Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia and Deco," which had as its theme the "moga" or "modern girl." Shakespeare's Sister looks at the criteria commonly used to categorize films as either "chick flicks" or "guy movies."

WOMEN'S HISTORY

In the November 22 entry at Frog in a Well, Alan Baumler explains why Manchu women did not bind their feet. The Daily Troll tells the life stories of her ancestors in the early days of the American South, including her forgotten female ancestors, and explains why knowledge of their real-life struggles and accomplishments is more valuable than their descendents' idealized view. Natalie Bennett at Philobiblion discusses the cultural history of menstruation and asks why we are still afraid to say the word.  The-Goddess responds to my post  on Elizabeth Gould Davis's theory of an ancient matriarchy as described in her book "The First Sex." I write about the life and legacy of Mary Lyon, who, in 1837, founded the first women's college in the United States. 

WOMEN'S BIOGRAPHY

The Sugared Harpy recounts how her teachers and advisors marginalized her as a student and conveyed to her a message of hopelessness when she was a pregnant teenager.  In "No One CanTake That Away from You," Vernice Jones shares the experiences of her friend Alisse as a woman of color who obtained a Ph.D in engineering. Jim Sullivan of Suldog-O-Rama writes a tribute to his "hero" -- his 100 year old grandmother who did not let the loss of an eye during infancy stop her from starting her own dancing school, becoming a marvelous artist, or serving as a very active community volunteer, among other many other accomplishments. 

WOMEN'S POLITICAL REPRESENTATION

Anne at Fernham reflects upon the invisibility of Congolese women who, elderly by 35, are routinely weighted down with huge loads of firewood while their husbands walk ahead unencumbered -- and she draws some surprising connections to newly elected Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Shirleaf, the Sex and the City crew, and women at elite universities in the first world.  The U.K.'s own GenderGeek takes issue with the Tory leadership's refusal to consider an all-woman shortlisting even as Britain slips from the top 50 nations for women's political representation. (Also check out The Sharpener which crossposted this piece and regularly features others like it.) 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND RAPE

The Countess (aka Trish Wilson) argues that the attacks by fathers' rights activists upon a PBS documentary about abused women and children mirror the tactics abusive fathers use in court. Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns and Money explains how resilient myths about rape impede the enforcement of Canada's rape shield law, including this lovely quotation from one hostile judge who noted that the complainant did not present herself to the defendant "in a bonnet and crinolines."  Ally at Ducking for Apples provides a very personal account of rape, including how she herself internalized the belief that she must have "led him on."  Lindsay at Makjikthise tells us about the troubling case in which reporting a rape became a crime.  The Evil Li-brul Overlord rants about this case too (as well as the notion that everyone must get married or civilization will collapse and John Derbyshire's contention that women are only attractive for a brief period after puberty) Laurelin in the Rain describes the Reclaim the Night rally in London.  The folks at Mind the Gap collect signatures for a petition to the Welsh Assembly for specific measures to help fight rape and domestic violence-- and they provide photos of their efforts.

RELIGION

LisaB at Feminist Mormon Housewives starts a discussion with her readers as to how to interpret scripture when it is not written in a gender-inclusive fashion. The Atheism/Agnosticisim Blog at about.com critiques the assumption in Islam and fundamentalist Christianity that women must bear responsibility for men's virtue as well as their own -- and that men are "victims" of their failure to do so. While "raising children, lettuce and hell in Texas," Redneck Mother  brings attention to the frightening anti-feminist agenda of the Christian Reconstructionists.

WOMEN'S WORK

Muse over at Me-Ander in Israel points out that young mothers need, but often don't get, rejuvenating breaks from their responsibilities, even while their husbands take such breaks for granted.  Jill at Feministe tackles the "daughter track." Hugo Schwyzer reminds us that the burden of performing mundane tasks for office parties falls on women employees all too often. 

Antonella Pavese discusses, in terms of her own life story, the ambivalence women often feel about their own ambition and need for recognition. At Goddess Musings, Roni highlights the L.A. Dodgers' consideration of Kim Ng for the General Manager position and the New York Times's inaccurate characterization of a feminist bookstore as hostile to children. Ginmar, in A View from A Broad, tells us about the heroism of Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester who, when ambushed in Iraq, led others, exposed herself to hails of grenades and machine gun fire, and saved countless lives along with Spec. Ashley J. Pullen and male members of their unit. (Scroll down to November 16.)

Many bloggers have responded to Linda Hirshman's Alternet article on Stay-at-Home Feminists. Bitch Ph.D supplements Hirshman's advice with her own Radical Married Feminist Manifesto, and Amanda at Pandagon observes that it ain't necessarily all that easy. Sandy at The Imponderabilia of Actual Life offers the perspective of one of those over-educated stay-at-home mothers whom Hirshman appears to blame for the failure of feminism. (This post also links to a number of other responses to Hirshman.)  Check out another response from self-described "radical feminist" and "stay-at-home soccer mom," L., at Homesickhome.   

THE NEXT CARNIVAL OF FEMINISTS

The next carnival, No 5, will be Scribblingwoman on December 21 Send submissions to jones AT unbsj DOT ca  by December 18. 

FOR INFO. ON OTHER CARNIVALS:

Check out the ubercarnival site.

Comments

[Alice]

What a great collection of posts! I started reading through, and was astounded to see my very small banana piece in there; that something I wrote merited inclusion in this carnival is flattering. :) I will have to contribute something more next time.

My favorite (so far!) is Fernham's post on Congolese women, Ellen Johnson-Shirleaf, and US women. I'm sending it to every one of my girl friends. I also really like the Sugared Harpy's post (and her name).

Alright, back to reading!

[Emma]

Thanks for the link, Happy!

Good job on the Carnival.

[Natalie Bennett]

Brilliant job, thanks!

[aeonsomnia]

I'd also like to add my congrats on a job well done :)

I love the carnivals; I've found so many feminist bloggers via the carnivals that I wouldn't have discovered otherwise, so I always look forward to these.

[Haida]

Great job!

[A Pang]

So many women bloggers, so much to read - hooray!

[Clare]

Thanks for the link and well done! This is fab. Am working my way down...am on part 2 now and have already bookmarked several!

[Ampersand]

Wow, great job! Thanks for putting this together.

[Terry]

Thanks for all your hard work on this, HF! I'm having a great time reading everything.

[bmmg39]

"...as she describes (with frustration) how her department declined to include the term 'Sexuality' in its name."

Well, we should remember that sexuality is just a small -- and, for some people, unnecessary -- part of overall human relations...

"Alice at Pants that Fit ain't volunteering for nothin' -- she just wants to eat her banana in peace (scroll down to her November 17 post entitled 'I've killed a Man for Less.')"

Alice should report the sexual harassment to her authorities (or discipline the co-worker if she IS the authority), NOT make a violent reference to genital mutilation. One bad turn doesn't deserve a worse one.

"The Countess (aka Trish Wilson) argues that the attacks by fathers' rights activists upon a PBS documentary about abused women and children mirror the tactics abusive fathers use in court."

I'd like to point out that ombudsmen for both the Corporation for Public Broadcasting --http://www.cpb.org/ombudsmen/051129bode.html -- and PBS itself -- http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/ -- have published some sharp criticism of that documentary, calling its fairness into question.

"...and John Derbyshire's contention that women are only attractive for a brief period after puberty..."

Can't see too many people agreeing with him there...

boy genteel
Stop violence against men AND women.
www.vawa4all.org

[Antonella]

HF,
you have put together an amazing collections of posts. As many others, I just started reading and I am already hooked. Thank you so much!

[The Happy Feminist]

As always, bmmg39, you make me think. I nominated Alice's post, so I will respond to your criticism of that. Personally, I don't find the torture of human beings via genital mutilation particularly amusing. It's a serious issue in terms of (for example) female circumcision and in terms of the torture of male prisoners by infliction of genital pain.

What makes Alice's post funny is that she never set out to equate her banana with anyone's penis. (At least I hope not, right, Alice?) The creepy guy is the one apparently imagining that the banana is his penis. Alice has the right to eat her banana any way she chooses and he has to take the consequences if his little fantasy doesn't turn out quite the way he hoped.

As for reporting the creepy guy's behavior to the higher ups, I don't think that occasional leering (which is generally hard to define anyway) would qualify as sexual harassment under the common legal definitions employed in the U.S. I suppose someone could talk to the guy and tell him to stop leering -- but that could cause Alice more problems than it would solve.

[Sour Duck]

Nice job with this issue, Happy Fem - very well organized. I am saving this to read at my leisure!

Well done!

[muse]

Wonderful job. I can't wait to sit down and read it all!
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2005/12/me-feminist.html

[Jonathan Dresner]

Nice collection, indeed. This carnival has really taken off nicely!

[Phil]

The "Countess"? That worthless Trish Wilson! You've gotta be kidding!

[Winter]

Thanks for another marvellous carnival.

[Ally]

Thank you very much for the link - and for such an interesting lot of posts. Will definitely be back!

[The Countess]

Thanks for the great carnival line-up. Lots of stuff for me to read. I'm happy to publicize about "Breaking The Silence: Children's Stories". It's being shown to legislators and other key personnel who work on domestic violence and child abuse issues around the country. Abused children and their protective mothers are finally getting the attention they need.

[Suldog]

Thanks much for including the post about my Grandma, and for the kind words.

[Alice]

Thank you HF. I didn't see his comment until this morning, and you handled it beautifully. I should have you speak for me more often. :)

Otherwise, I agree with you that bmmg39's point is well made.

[tr1c14]

Wow, so much to read - I've only gotten halfway through it so far but it's a wow for sure. And thanks for the link as well :-)

[Jenn]

Fantastic edition of the carnival! Thank you for the inclusion!!!

[Roni]

Thanks for the links!

[Purple Elephant]

Great job! I'm really looking foward to working my way through this batch of posts.
Oh and many thanks for the link!