Well-behaved women rarely make history. – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Anyone who is anyone knows that March 8 was International Women’s Day. But what they may not know is that in 1981, the U.S. Congress designated a subsequent National Women’s History Week. Then six years later, those stodgy Congressmen extended it to an entire Women’s History Month.
Wow, thanks.
According to the U.S. Census, there are 149.1 million women—versus 144.5 million men (well, that figures)—in the U.S. at last count. Also, interestingly enough, 55 percent of women have read literature in the past 12 months, as opposed to 38 percent for men.
Surprised? Me neither.
That’s why I’ve compiled a list below of my latest readings.
What I Just Finished Reading:
“Blogs to Riches: The Haves and Have-Nots of the Blogging Boom.” By Clive Thompson, newyorkmetro.com
“Little Wing: When homing pigeons leave home.” By Susan Orlean, The New Yorker, Feb. 13 & 20, 2006
Girlgonemad and Iloveyourmom bloggers on nerve.com
“Would You Like to See My Etchings? It’s not just a myth: Creative types really do get more action. But are they any good?” by Em & Lo, newyorkmetro.com
Margot Berwin’s “The Waxer,” nerve.com… about one woman’s experience getting a Brazilian wax.
Jane Stevenson’s “In the Raw,” nerve.com… about what it’s like to be one of the naked girls Japanese businessmen eat sushi off of.
What I’m Reading Now:
“A Village Transformed: Lesbian couples in New Paltz, N.Y., discuss their shared commitment, their community pride—and their desire to be left alone, now that the revolution they brought East is spreading up and down the coast.” By Brita Brundage, The Fairfield County Weekly, in the anthology Notes from the Underground—The Most Outrageous Stories from the Alternative Press, edited by Nancy Armstrong
“Pucker Up: Tomatoes Can Be Torture, Parts 1-3” by Tristan Taormino, villagevoice.com, Mar. 3, 2006… about eroticizing humiliation, from the sex educator/lesbian bondage author and Village Voice columnist. Geez, how can I get that job?
Cause 4 Paws: Maui Humane Society Newsletter… What can I say? It’s a tearjerker.
What I’m Going to Read Next:
Break, Blow, Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-Three of the World’s Best Poems by Camille Paglia
I mean, who doesn’t want to read this? I may not agree with everything Paglia says but I find the edgy, feminist yet sex-obsessed pop culture critic immensely entertaining. Especially when she says things like she’s “unsure whether the West’s chaotic personalism can prevail against the totalizing creeds that menace it,” or that the world of Walt Whitman is “a plush matrix or webwork of gummy secretions.” I don’t know why but Paglia’s writing makes me giggle and blush like a prepubescent schoolgirl.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
I know, I know—you all have read this one already. And sorry, but I totally saw the movie without reading the book first. But I’m finally succumbing to the demands of my mother, who insists it’s a great read. Although I could’ve sworn I also saw The Fastest Ship: Historical Romance Novel with Pirates, Privateers; Tall Sailing Ships; British Royal Navy; and HMS Warrior, England’s First Iron-Clad Warship by Larita Arnold on her nightstand, too.
Good Vibrations catalog
I just got it in the mail but haven’t had time to check it out yet.
Samantha Campos is about to spend the next evening pouring over the March 2006 issue of Esquire, which her editor just handed to her with exasperated acceptance that, indeed, Viggo Mortensen IS the sexiest man alive. MTW
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