http://www.thefeministreview.com Calling Patriarchy As We See It Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:32:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en !-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->Fatema Mernissi follows the harem into Western literature, art and psyche, sharing fascinating insights on misogyny in Middle Eastern and Western culture along the way. During her book tour for Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/scheherazade-goes-west.html !-- @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> Does Wicked promote feminism? I would love to ask author Gregory Maguire that very question! In this society, women have fewer vocational and public opportunities than men, and seem to be bound by family obligations more ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/06/wicked.html Thanks to Melissa for this fabulous lolcat! http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/05/lolcats.html I don't think a memoir can be patriarchal. I believe that the act of telling one's own story is inherently empowering, A person can be a complete racist, misogynist jerk and lie all throughout a memoir, and the book could be used to promote and support patriarchy. But when written ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/04/eat-pray-love.html A pregnant woman in underpants on all fours in a cage on the sidewalk. A woman wrapped in cling film to resemble cuts of meat in a supermarket. Mel B gets her "tits out for trafficking." Most of us have come to expect the exploitation of women's bodies to sell everything from cars ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/04/prostituting-for-charity.html This past week, author/speaker/researcher Lyn Mikel Brown came to town to speak about the themes in her book, Packaging Girlhood. In the book, Brown asserts that girlhood is being commercialized and shaped in ways that are unhealthy and damaging to our children, primarily through false ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/04/packaging-girlhood-and-how-far-we-still-have-to-go.html What we see on TV becomes normalized. This is troubling when TV is full of violence, sex, violent sex, alcohol (most common beverage seen on TV), etc. Men are seen on TV more than women, and sexualized women are seen more than sexualized men. The Geena Davis Institute on Media held ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/04/geena-davis-institute-on-media-2008-conference.html I don't understand how one article can leave me feeling such delight and such anger simultaneously! Johann Hari's "Where Have All the Stong Women Gone?" is a searing and straightforward critique of patriarchy's destructive and completely unfair expectations of women. Hari reminisces about Bette Davis' bad-ass characters on-screen, and her boldness ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/04/where-have-all-the-strong-women-gone.html Christie Church's article "Feminism Keeps My Marriage Together" is conversational and honest. I think this is a perfect example of a story being both personal and relevant. She shares particularities that make this her story, but has enough self-awareness to make her own story more widely relevant. I also appreciate ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/03/feminism-keeps-my-marriage-together.html NPR's Allison Keyes discusses Catwoman's appeal, contending that she is a symbol of feminine power. She interviews women who portrayed Catwoman, co-stars, and a writer, and describes Catwoman incarnations over the years. Catwoman's "feminine power" includes her independence, ruthlessness, but always (and often first and foremost) her sex appeal. The fact ... http://www.thefeministreview.com/2008/03/npr-catwoman-feminine-power-on-the-prowl.html