Awesome-sounding Books! by Ladies!

[nymeth]

I sometimes worry that book list type posts are somehow cheating, which makes little sense considering how much I enjoy reading other people’s. But anyway, I do know no one will hold today’s post against me. Lady Business has been silent for a few weeks now, as all three of us were swallowed by school, life, or both. But we’re now ready to return, and the future holds actual reviews of books and other media, including epic three way ones which will make the universe explode with their sheer number of words. In the meantime, I’ll ease myself back into this space with a list of books by ladies that have caught my eye:

• How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ. This first caught my attention at my university’s library a few months ago, but I was reminded me of again recently both because the author unfortunately passed away and because the cover was making the rounds on tumblr. The book has been described as a “sarcastic guidebook” to the history of women’s literature, which kind of makes it sound like a sexism-focused version of Diana Wynne Jones’ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. WANT.

• Dude, You’re a Fag by C.J. Pascoe. My friend Chris added this to a list of possible books for us to read together, and I immediately got ridiculously excited because it sounds like it would make for awesome background reading for my dissertation. The subtitle is “Masculinity and Sexuality in High School” – with basis on her PhD research, Pascoe analyses the links between sexism, heteronormativity, and enforced ideals of masculinity in high school culture. (On a side note, I made the mistake of clicking 1 star reviews of this on Amazon: they’re all by reviewers who are outraged that a feminist, who obviously “hates men”, would dare write about masculinity. One is very suggestively titled “excrement on paper”. Naturally I should have stopped reading there – I have no idea why I do these things to myself.)

• Girl Reading by Katie Ward — A new Virago! Girl Reading is a collection of interconnected short stories (these words, by the way, are music to my ears) spanning from 1333 to 2060, and each inspired by an image of a girl or woman reading.

• The Secret Feminist Cabal by Helen Merrick. I blame Renay for this, though to be fair the subtitle alone would have sold me: “A cultural history of science fiction feminists”. I want it so badly.

• Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories Sandra McDonald. More interconnected short stories! And to make it even better, this book was shortlisted for the very awesome James Tiptree Jr award (previous winners of which include The Knife of Never Letting Go and Cat Valente's The Orphan's Tales). I was sold by this review, which says:
  
  

  McDonald’s spare distortion forces the reader to reconsider his own notions of cultural history, and she does this to great effect, whether taking on gender ideologies (“Diana Comet and the Disappearing Lover”), homophobia (“The Fireman’s Fairy”), or racism (“Fay and the Goddesses”). None of these issues are presented glibly, didactically, or clumsily; indeed, it’s through the slightest distortions of fantastic imagination that the reader must re-examine his own society through McDonald’s reflective lens.

  And:
  

  I think here of Ursula K. LeGuin’s marvelous novel The Left Hand of Darkness, a book toward which I believe Diana Comet bears considerable comparison, particularly with respect to the exploration of how gender and sexuality functions in a society.

• Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls by Alissa Nutting. Another James Tiptree listee. Lorian Long at Bookslut says:
  
  

  Nutting recognizes gender for the fucked game it is, and violation via structure, via holding, is what Nutting intends to untangle, knot by knot. A shaky foundation for bodies to slip through, these stories give way to fantastic chaos in which we lose sense of meaning, moments, memory, and performance. Without boundaries, the body is capable.

Comments

[bookgazing]

All the academic writing full of stereotypes made you want to fight back with feminist books, didn't it? Awesome for us :) I want Secret Feminist Cabal especially much.

And Dude... sounds like it will spark some thought patterns, particularly the bits about heteronormativity and sexism. The whole time I was writing those posts I just kept getting more and more aware of what straight focused arguments I was addressing, hence the clumsy over use of 'traditional' to keep myself from falling into gender cliches.

[renay]

I love how Ana's school work is like a boon for our reading lists. I approve of this!

[nymeth]

"And Dude... sounds like it will spark some thought patterns, particularly the bits about heteronormativity and sexism." Yes! I'm really hoping it will. And don't worry, I think you did a very good job of clarifying what you meant in your post.

[renay]

I have been meaning to read Pascoe and Russ for years, but never managed to get around to it. My track record with nonfiction was horrible even when my track record for fiction was good. On the plus side, you'll get to them before me and tell me how they are! \o/

Of course, you stole my idea, I was totally going to do a book list! XD

[nymeth]

Do it anywaaaay! I bet it will be full of books I want to hear about.

[krait]

All of those sound fabulous and I want them! With an urgency probably heightened by some unfortunate lately-reads in the sci-fi and mystery genres.

(Finally finished Williamson's excrescence today! Never ever again will I read a military sci-fi novel written by a man but featuring a female protagonist. SO MUCH FAIL.

[nymeth]

Ugh about the fail :\ May your reading future hold much better books!

[chrisa511]

You know how much I love me some book lists :D this post made me SO happy :) I actually have Unclean Jobs on my wishlist already. Doesn't it sound awesome?? And um...science fiction feminists?? I'm so there!!! I'm so excited about Dude, you're a fag! I'll totally read it with you if you want!!

[nymeth]

That would be totally awesome :D

[chrisa511]

Ok...so I just went and read the "excrement on paper" review of Dude, You're a Fag and I'm literally shaking with pissed offedness. What a dumb ass!! First of all...his name is "Bookman"...he has to make sure to let us know with his name that he's a MAN. He's obviously pissed because I'm guessing he recognizes a lot of himself in this book. That's what I got from it. I haven't read this yet, but I can already tell that this idiot completely missed the point of the book. Yes..Pascoe probably DID focus on the fucked upedness of the school because THAT IS REALITY!!!! And it needs to stop. I can't tell you how much I got picked on in school for being gay before I was even out. It's literally torture. She has no agenda with this book aside from educating people is my guess. I don't know what kind of utopic world "bookman" lives in, but it's not mine. Things like this actually exist asshole...it doesn't help to sugar coat things. You're pissed off that it was brought to light here? Well I'm pissed that people like you perpetuate that we should ignore it. /rant

[renay]

From what I understand of the book, some parts aren't even about homosexuality, but rather, the policing of gender identity through homophobic and heterosexist slurs. If the book is challenging gender presentations, it's very likely it will get some push back.

I think she does have an agenda -- it's just an agenda people who dislike not being able to rely on gender shorthand don't like.

[nymeth]

I agree with Renay, though I guess it comes down to how you define "agenda". It's often used to mean "a secret and sinister purpose that will DISTORT your research and KILL your objectivity", but I think that in the area of gender in particular it's nearly impossible for research not to have some sort of ideological ethos or alignment behind it. That doesn't have to compromise it, but of course people are going to use it to discredit (very often the very same people whose own agendas you can clearly see from a mile away).

[goodbyebird]

How to Suppress Women’s Writing and Girl Reading were already on my list, but the rest of these sounds fantastic as well. Thanks for sharing <3

[nymeth]

You're most welcome!

[dastevens.blogspot.com]

Oh you are so wonderfully wicked, my dear! Five books to my wish list in one fell swoop. (And yeah, would have been six, if not for Chris already adding the Pascoe one.)

[nymeth]

Sorry about that ;)

[dastevens.blogspot.com]

Liar. :)

[renay]

Isn't she shameless...? :D