All posts filed under: July

Feminism: I know you are but what am I?

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I agree with Katherine C.  I’m bored of this conversation.  That is not necessarily a critique of Adichie’s writing or thoughts. It just that it is just that – writing and thoughts.  Frankly, you have to be the most isolated naïve person (male or female) to not appreciate the glaring discrepancies in gender equality.  I am not just speaking to places in the world, like Nigeria, where these social constraints are newly being addressed.  I am talking about here at home.  We all see it and live it every day.  I get called “nurse,” “honey,” “blue eyes” on the daily at work.  But, you know what, it doesn’t bother me all that much because 1. I have bigger fish to fry and 2. I can’t let it. As much as the concept of feminism is marred with a negative societal connotation of a movement of the brashy broad juiced up on hormones and self-rightoutsness, the real problem is simple.  The real problem is that feminism is not anything.  It isn’t an action.  It isn’t change. Feminism …

Why aren’t we all feminists already?

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This was an interesting read. It made me think a lot about how I define feminism. Author, or speaker rather, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had a beautiful way of articulating complex issues and crystallizing her point for a diverse audience. I definitely enjoyed the read, but I think she only skimmed the surface. Which is unfortunately the current status of feminism in our county. In my opinion, the conversation she provokes in We Should All Be Feminists is the same one we’ve been having for 30 years. Yadda, yadda. Personally, I’m done with this broken record. Take it out of rotation. Let’s get on board with the issues already and elevate the conversation. Don’t get me wrong, I liked all of Adichie’s points… It’s time the word feminism retained less of a negative connotation. In fact, it should have a positive connotation. And we should raise our daughters to a higher standard, instead of asking them to shrink themselves into smaller, more feminine, role. And all this change is within our control, “culture does not make people. People make people.” But …

Bookly Recommends {The Patriot}

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We know that We Should All Be Feminists is a fast read – that’s one of the reasons we were so excited to read it this month! But if the essay has you hungering for more non-fiction, here are some recommendations from us to read during the month of {The Patriot}: Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer: One of the best non-fiction books you will ever read. Krakauer takes a deep look into the fascinating and disturbing world of Mormon fundamentalism. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote: This is an American classic. It’s the true story of a series of cold-blooded murders in a sleepy farm town. Capote’s telling of the murders, the capture and prosecution of the murderers, and the aftermath of this horrific incident is chilling (read it with all the lights on). Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer: A deeply moving story of a young man who journeyed to the Alaskan wilderness, Into the Wild tells of the last days of Christopher McCandless. The story is simultaneously sad and frustrating, …

July Book

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Pictured:Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie © The Guardian We hope you’re enjoying summer so far! For this month’s selection we’re changing pace, from YA to non-fiction. Since July is the month when we celebrate our history, we figured it’d be a good time to get a little introspective and learn something new about what makes us who we are.   We did a lot of back and forth with this choice. We had a different book chosen just a few weeks ago… but as we promised, we want to read all types of ‘books’. So we’ve chosen We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: a 52-page essay. No excuses this month – give this one a quick read! This book (or booklet as we should call it given the charmingly small size) is a modified version of a TEDx talk Adichie delivered in December 2012. Nigerian-born, she is the award-winning author of Americanah, one among many of her well-received books. In this essay, as a self-proclaimed “happy feminist” she offers a personal view and unique definition of feminism. Telegraph journalist Rupert Hawksley calls We …