Constant Havoc

Yes, I thought about this stuff before I put it here.

Tag: Women

Where We Go From Here

desert1

I am not a pessimist. If we look at history, there has been steady improvement in the circumstances of humanity.

I am not a cynic. That’s a lazy attitude. It’s also cowardly. If there is reason to feel negative about a matter, then there is human capacity to make it better.

I am optimistic. The human species is improving. It’s not a simple process. It’s like life, happening in starts and stops.

I won’t be surprised if capitalism as practiced in the US is completely dead in a hundred years. Completely. I doubt the system that will replace it is even around right now. We will probably get glimpses of it in the next ten years.

People of color are rising. Great strength is going to flow into all of humanity, because marginalized ethnic groups are finding their voices.

It’s not just marginalized ethnic groups. Other outcasts are speaking up and demanding rights they have been denied. LGBTQ+ people all over the world are loud. Physically disabled individuals aren’t asking for sympathy. They are marching for access.

And women. For thousands of years, men have told women it was more valuable to be able to throw a spear farther than it was to clean the prey brought down by the hunt. Male superiority is so fragile it must rely on violence to perpetuate it.

Women know.

Women know real power is in being open and receptive and creating life from what is received.

When we honor women’s knowing, humanity will be home.

So much of what I see in today’s world is driven by the fear of those clinging to a dying system without the capacity to imagine their place in a better one.

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What Should a Teenage Girl, a Budding Feminist, Read?

What book to give?

What books to give?

I’m the proud father of two teenage girls. Part of the pride lies in their love of reading and especially their love of reading books with strong female characters. In an effort to encourage their learning about women’s issues, I’m asking for ideas of what books they should read. I’m hoping to find books about women’s lives and about the feminist movement. Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Please, leave a comment.

Artemis Dreamt is probably where I’ll start. It’s hard to resist since I read the early manuscript. The book has a troubled girl who journeys and discovers abandonment. New novelist Crystal Beran wrote an excellent YA book.

A good friend found this list on Bitch Media for me in answer to my search. I showed it to a librarian friend, and she said while it’s a good one, she cautioned that some of the titles might be too young for my daughters who are fifteen and seventeen. The Sweet In-Between from the list looks quite intriguing, though.

My librarian friend recommended this Norton Anthology, but I wonder if it might be too daunting for a first introduction to the genre. She also suggested The Essential Feminist Reader, which I’m more inclined to offer my daughters.

I relish searching for books, and I love to give gifts. Here, I get to satisfy two desires at once. My other penchant is for real classics, so I want to have them delve immediately into Sappho. I have to be careful to consider their wants, too.

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