The Other Side of the Cartoon: Michelle Obama

What has been especially interesting in the furor over the New Yorker cartoon (I'm sure we've all seen it by now--nonetheless, helpful clip to the left) is that the main focus has been on Barack Obama's image as a Muslim terrorist and not on his wife. In some ways, this is unsurprising. After all, there's a history of the "Obama-Osama" slip-ups--though "slip-up" gives Fox News too much credit--and he is the presidential candidate. Nonetheless, and maybe because I've felt already inundated with the Obama imagery, the cartoon of Michelle Obama shocked me much more. As Sophia A. Nelson writes in a superb article in the Washington Post today, the New Yorker satires an "Angela-Davis-Afro-wearing, machine-gun-toting, angry, unpatriotic Michelle Obama." I use the word satire, because clearly it is meant to be one. At the same time, the New Yorker was willfully obtuse on this one. No virgin voyagers on the high media seas, the meta-New Yorker must have known how images can be misconstrued and used to deepen prejudice. (Just take a look at this report from Media Matters on reactions from conservative WorldNetDaily readers.)

But the Michelle Obama cartoon seemed a much more egregious satire to me. Besides a "terrorist fist bump" here and an "unpatriotic" there, I have never seen Michelle Obama painted in such a way that so clearly undermines the strong, professional, intellectual image she has maintained throughout the campaign. As Nelson points out in her article:

"Sad to say, but what Obama has undergone, though it's on a national stage and on a much more prominent scale, is nothing new to professional African American women. We endure this type of labeling all the time. We're endlessly familiar with the problem Michelle Obama is confronting -- being looked at, as black women, through a different lens from our white counterparts, who are portrayed as kinder, gentler souls who somehow deserve to be loved and valued more than we do. So many of us are hoping that Michelle -- as an elegant and elusive combination of successful career woman, supportive wife and loving mother -- can change that."

This is clearly an issue for the feminist blogger world. So here are my questions:
1. Which image were you more shocked by?
2. Do you feel that the feminist and race implications of the Michelle Obama image have been underreported?

- Kristen

Crossposted at Transitioning

Image Credit

Made for a Woman?: "The Sex Difference Evangelists"

Hi everybody, Kristen Loveland (of Transitioning, formerly called The Choice) here helping to fill in for Deborah a bit over the next two weeks with some cross-posts. It's always best to start your week off with a little contemplation about how much those pesky, pervasive, much-(statistically)-vaunted "sex differences" between men and women hold water beyond the oversimplified pop study and advertising board room (let's all take a minute to painfully remember Mel "sugartits" Gibson's What Women Want movie). In a brilliant move over at Slate, Amanda Schaffer and Emily Bazelon take on the latest literature by the "sex difference evangelists" in a six-part series (click through to read them all and thanks to Daphne Uviller for sending this over!) Looking at everything from language to empathy to hormones to Larry Summers, they ask why there is so much focus on the Mars/Venus dichotomy, and so little on the many variables within a gender. And most happily, instead of taking all the stats and studies at face value, they dig into these researchers' findings beyond the intro paragraphs.

For instance, they get to the bottom of how significant the difference in empathy is between men and women, noting that by 1987 sex differences were actually only "comparable to the difference in average height between 15- and 16-year-old girls, "though this didn't stop psychologist Susan Pinker to use these studies to argue "that women have a powerful 'empathy advantage.'" But most significantly, and something I always try to keep in mind when the New York Times flashes the latest stats across its front page, Schaffer and Bazelon point out:

"Of course, what people say about themselves on questionnaires tells a limited story in any case. Psychologist Nancy Eisenberg made this point most dramatically in the 1980s, when she demonstrated that the empathy gap, which appeared in studies that relied on self-reporting, all but vanished when other measures like physiological responses or changes in facial expression were considered. Men and women differ in 'how empathetic they would like to appear to others (and, perhaps, to themselves),' she wrote—and that's not the same thing as real underlying sex differences in empathy."

Any weekend spent with my sister (my complete opposite in countless ways) very clearly brings the differences within gender home to me. This weekend, this very neatly played out in our contradictory reaction to the very advertising and consumer campaigns that target those so-called differences. Lacking soap, I very naturally picked up my brother's Old Spice "Vitality" body wash to use. It smelled quite nice, I thought, though I'll wait for the day when a "woman's" body wash is tagged as the dynamic "Vitality" as opposed to "soothing," "calming," or the it's-hard-being-a-woman "re-energizing." As soon as I ran down stairs, feeling quite vital, thank you very much, I was subject to a very big sisterly campaign of: "I can't believe you just used man-wash. You smell like a man now. Who uses man wash?" Clearly, it was not something she would have even contemplated. Even in our decisions as to how much we will abide by the consumer-minded gender roles, the reactions are variegated, dare we even say, unexpected.


Image Credit

Live Blogging Blogher: Political Commentary

Claire Mysko here, reporting from the BlogHer '08 conference! My first session today is on political commentary with Jennifer Pozner of Women in Media and News and Catherine Orenstein of the Op-Ed Project.

Jennifer opened the session with this question: How many of you have engaged with media outside of your blogs? Most people in the room raised their hands, but those who didn't said they haven't engaged because they are nervous about putting themselves "out there" and exposing themselves in their communities especially when it comes to politics. Jennifer made the point that as women, we must be willing to engage in a competitive landscape. The media landscape does not look the way we want it to. Women are marginalized and "hard news" is still seen as the realm of men (white, privileged men for the most part).

Jennifer gets tons of hate mail after her TV commentary. Perhaps not so surprising (but still pretty depressing), most of those comments are usually about her physical appearance and almost never about what she actually said.

The more popular your blog is, the more likely it is that mainstream media outlets will come to you. When you get that call, you have to be prepared. Jennifer mentioned the brother-in-law test. If you can get your brother-in-law to understand your point and frame your argument in a way that he gets it, you'll know that you are better prepared to address a broad audience beyond your niche.

Catherine Orenstein posed five questions:
1. what is credibility?
2. how do you create an argument that is a contribution?
3. What is the difference between being right and being effective?
4. how can you see what you care about as part of a bigger picture?
5. how can you see your knowledge and experience in terms of its value to others?

Some stats: 85% percent of op-eds are dominated by men, 84% of political pundits are men, 84% of Hollywood producers are male, 84% of Congress are male. Get the picture?

Plenty of women are blogging, but not in the places where it has the most influence. One out of 20 political bloggers are women. Sadly, these numbers convey the idea that women's voices don't matter and that women aren't leaders.

Three things happened when Catherine published her first op-ed: She got a book deal, she was went on national television, and she was invited to speak with a Clinton adviser. In other words, there are incredible opportunities presented to those who do put themselves out there. If you're not writing your own story, someone else will. And probably not in the way you would tell it.

Public conversations are happening in an echo chamber. Catherine compares this to what happens in the movie Being John Malkovich when John Malkovich goes through the John Malkovich tunnel. That's what public debate looks like these days.

Women don't submit op-eds. Shouldn't we all be projecting our opinions into the prominent forums? So here are Catherine's thoughts on some of those questions.

What is credibility: Accountability to knowledge. What are you an expert in and why?
Creating contribution: What would be valuable? What's the evidence (statistics, quotes, news information, research).
What's the difference between being right and being effective: She shared a letter she received after she wrote an ope-ed that was critical of Sex & the City. "It's Sex & the City, not Jobs & the City," the writer pointed out. "Your version: Boring." Catherine realized that she had alienated a large portion of the audience she wanted to reach. What she learned is that before she concludes an argument, she needs to put herself in the shoes of someone who disagrees with her. Remember two words: empathy and respect. Assume that the other party is both intelligent and moral.

This content is cross posted at 5 Resolutions.

COMING SOON: Off the Shelf

Heads up over here about another guest poster coming to you next week, one who I am thrilled (THRILLED!) to announce will be contributing regularly here at GWP with a column featuring reviews of newly released books, called "Off the Shelf."

Elline Lipkin (pictured left) is a poet and nonfiction writer. Her first book, The Errant Thread, was chosen by Eavan Boland to receive the Kore Press First Book Award and was published in 2006. She is currently working on a book about girls for Seal Press and will be a Visiting Scholar with the Center for Research on Women at UCLA in the fall. She recently taught at UC Berkeley where she was a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Beatrice Bain Research Group.

Watch for Elline's review next week of Pamela Paul's latest,
Parenting, Inc, a book that investigates "the whirligig of marketing hype, peer pressure, and easy consumerism that spins parents into purchasing overpriced products and raising overprotected, overstimulated, and over-provided-for children." Parents, yes, and especially, perhaps, mothers.

And with that, I am signing off for reals--to go get married!!!

In Praise of My Ex

I am so very proud of a writer named Michael Heller today. Check out this review by Tim Wu in Slate:

The last decade has produced enough books challenging received wisdom to fill a small—and stupendously popular—library called the Compendium of Counterintuition. Here we find Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, which teaches that snap judgments are sometimes more accurate than studied observation. James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds, almost a companion volume, argues that a bunch of random idiots can sometimes do better than experts. Chris Anderson's The Long Tail makes the point that selling unpopular stuff can be a way to make lots of money.

The newest addition to the collection is Michael Heller's The Gridlock Economy, which does for property rights what the Long Tail does for product marketing. The difference is that Heller, unlike most of the authors of counterintuitive books, is actually a leader in the academic field he is scrutinizing. As one of the nation's leading property theorists, he has accomplished a feat. In an area that has generated very few nonacademic books, Heller has managed to pull off one of the most perceptive popular books on property since Das Kapital.

The review is titled "Move Over, Marx." And the book's author is not just any ole ex. He's my ex-husband.

Michael worked enormously hard, I know, writing this book, and I am just kvelling over here to see him receive laurels so richly deserved. I'm looking forward to reading the book, and I urge folks to check it out.

Congratulations, Professor Heller. You are the best first husband, ever! I wish you all the joys in the world.

Where I'm Teaching Next: Woodhull, Sept 5-7

Last weekend's nonfiction writers retreat at the Woodhull house in Ancramdale was very energizing, and I wanted to send a shout out to all the participants (hi Lara! hi May! hi Leeat!). I absolutely loved working with everyone. And here's info on the next one:

Raise Your Voice
The Woodhull Institute Prepares Women to Be Leaders on the Page

Women are underrepresented as nonfiction authors and opinion writers. In a long weekend of writing instruction and one-on-one critique from expert instructors Kristen Kemp, Catherine Orenstein, and Deborah Siegel, participants gain fundamental knowledge of Op-ed pieces, features, book proposals, and pitching ideas.

When/Where: September 5-7, 2008 (Ancramdale, NY)

Early Registration: $455

Regular Registration: $495*

Learn more and register today! Substantial discounts are available to alumnae and members.

Disappearing into Bridedom!

Argh - I didn't make it here today. But heads up on some FABULOUS guest posting about to come our way from Claire Mysko who will be live blogging from BlogHer, and Gloria Feldt and Kristen Loveland and others who will be crossposting and guest posting galore! I'm off tomorrow and will do my best to post a "g'bye" here before I go. Til then...

Women's Health Research

Three quick hits this afternoon (courtesy Rebekah Spicuglia) regarding new info about women's health here and abroad:

Saving Mothers, One at a Time
7/15/08
NY Times: According to a 2007 study of global maternal mortality rates, more than two-thirds of deaths among Malawian women of reproductive age are linked to pregnancy or childbirth - a larger proportion than in any of the 171 countries in the study.

Teen Sexual Behavior Does Not Predict HPV Risk
7/16/08
RHRealityCheck.org: A teen's sexual activity doesn't predict her future risk for HPV, and shouldn't determine whether she receives the HPV vaccine, according to University of Michigan researchers. HPV, genital human papillomavirus, is the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Study Questions Breast Self-Exams
7/15/08
Boston Globe: Although most women are told to examine their breasts every month for lumps, new research confirms that the practice - on its own - may do more harm than good. Self exams, and those by healthcare providers, actually produce an increase in benign biopsies, but don't get the patient into treatment earlier or save her life.

(Image is from Women's Health 2009: The 17th Annual Congress)

Next Class of Progressive Women's Voices Announced

A hearty congratulations to the members of the Final 2008 Class of Progressive Women's Voices! The new participants will join us (we?) alumna of the program to ensure that women are visible and powerful in the media. Tidbits from the press release:

Launched in January of this year, Progressive Women's Voices has provided 33 women from a variety of fields with intensive media training and ongoing support to promote their perspective and message into the national dialogue. Since the program began, the Women's Media Center has already had an impact at the highest levels of the media. Participants have appeared on such media outlets as CNN and CBS Evening News, been quoted by The New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, placed op-eds in national papers including the Washington Post, and blogged about issues from the economy to race.

"You can't change the lopsided numbers of women working at top levels overnight," said Carol Jenkins, president of The Women's Media Center. "That's why we created this year-long, intensive program that includes briefings from experts, conversations with media professionals, pairing with mentors-as well as pitching to media outlets. The women get on-camera and op-ed writing training, and constant feedback. They have a support system, and it shows."

Participants in the third training class include authors, policy leaders and journalists - 11 women whose diverse backgrounds reflect the diversity of women's experiences in the United States. They join 22 current participants, forming a stable of progressive women who will add their voices to the national conversation in areas of economics, politics, health care, immigration, women's rights, workplace policy, and other important issues. The program is funded primarily by a generous grant from the NoVo Foundation and with additional support from the UN Foundation and other supporters.

A personal shout out to Veronica Arreola and Alissa Quart. For a full list of participants in the third class, click here.

Coming Back...

Forgive me, GWP readers, for silence yesterday! Unprecedented, and I feel like a total delinquent. I promise to be back here today :)

And thank you to those who proposed guest posts for next week! I will get back to everyone today.

I'm on Page 6

Here's the link to Kate Torgovnik's very thoughtful article about divorce parties in the New York Post's Page Six Magazine called "Congratulations on Your Split!" I'm gulp, the closing anecdote.

Talk about timing! I love it.

(Image is from the mag)

Wedding Central

This morning the dude and I went to City Hall to get our marriage license. Elsewhere in weddingland:

California Gays Ditch Wedding Gifts For Donations
7/14/08
Reuters: A month after California began legally marrying same-sex partners, thousands of dollars that might have been spent on toasters or dinnerware for newlyweds have been donated to the campaign against the November referendum that seeks to define marriage in the state as only between a man and a woman.

Weddings Are Big Day for Extreme Dieting
7/13/08
Women's eNews: Questing for the perfect body has become a norm in the world of wedding preparations as a multi-billion-dollar wedding industry peddles the perfection myth more intensely than ever before.

HA! Not moi. I so pigged out this weekend (last one before the wedding) and enjoyed every minute....

Meet the Ladies

A little slow to posting today...

A bit o history making over the weekend, as reported by Adele Stan over at Huffington Post: Sunday's face-off between the McCain campaign's Carly Fiorina and the Obama campaign's Claire McCaskill on NBC's Meet the Press served up an historic television moment; it was the first time in the show's history, said moderator Tom Brokaw, that two women had appeared together on the show as the surrogates for opposing campaigns.

Get, Ketubah, Mikvah...and the Divorce Collage

Nothing says "moving on" like the divorce collage.

Actually, these here doubled as housewarming projects. After having an awful experience (not a big surprise) with a Jewish divorce ceremony some years back, I decided to refill the frame that had held my marriage certificate or ketubah (left) with ad-hoc art work by my dearest friends. So I invited them over and we had a party.

That party will be part of a Page 6 story in this Sunday's New York Post. And the timing couldn't be more perfect. Because on Monday, Marco and I will be going down to City Hall to pick up our marriage license and officially change our names! We are becoming the Siegel-Acevedos. How's that for a mouthful of fusion. I'm staying Siegel in print. Hey, do people still hyphenate these days, or has that already become outre? (Our thanks to the Wallace-Segalls for the inspiration...!)

And on Thursday, I will make my first ever visit to a modern Mikvah with a friend, which, from the pictures, looks more like a spa. Here's to ritual new and old, tossed out and reclaimed and reinspired, updated and reinvented, I say.

Would the Queens of Nonfiction Please Stand Up

Check out this article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed, "Where Are the Queens of Nonfiction?" by Anne Trubek, an associate professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College. It's excellent. And majorly depressing. Trubek riffs on the title of Ira Glass' new book, The New Kings of Nonfiction, an anthology intended to commemorate and canonize our current golden age of nonfiction writing. Writes Trubek,

Huh? Glass is a trailblazing icon of alternative, indie culture, a very with-it, 21st-century guy. What was he thinking? Why did he choose a gender-specific title for his book?

She goes on to do some byline counting:

A few years ago, two women — Ruth Davis Konigsberg, a writer and former editor at Glamour, and Elizabeth Merrick, director of a women's literary reading series — tallied the ratio of male to female contributors at those four magazines on their own Web sites. The numbers called attention to a significant gender disparity. According to Konigsberg, on womentk.com, during a 12-month period (from September 2005 to September 2006), there were 1,446 men's bylines and 447 women's bylines. At Harper's, the ratio was nearly seven to one, at The New Yorker four to one, and at The Atlantic 3.6 to one.

I did my own tally. From May 2007 through May 2008, Harper's published 232 men and 51 women (a ratio of about 4.5 to one) and The Atlantic published 158 men to 49 women (a ratio of about three to one). In 2008, The New Yorker has published 185 men and 51 women (about 3.5 to one). Things are not getting much better.

Then analyzes what does make it into print:

As disheartening as those statistics are, closer inspection of what women do publish in such magazines makes the disparity even more disturbing. Many of the women's contributions are not features. (At The New Yorker, they might be a Talk of the Town piece, a poem, a cartoon, or a dance review.) And many are about being a woman. For example, the March 2008 issue of The Atlantic contains three substantial pieces by women. One, by Eliza Griswold, is both political and reported, and it does not integrate her personal experience. But the other two use personal experiences to make claims about women's lives. And in an almost absurd twist, both argue that women should start settling for less.

That other Atlantic piece of course is "Marry Him! The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough," by Lori Gottlieb.

For a great analysis of what gives, read the rest.

I'll Be on Pacifica Radio Tonight...

Taking time out from prep for next week's bridaldom, I will be on Pacifica Radio tonight (in Houston, KPFT, 90.1 FM ) at 9pm ET tonight discussing media sexism and the election, particularly in light of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. If in Houston, tune in! If not, I'll post the web link (which stays live for 60 days) here soon. The program is the Progressive Forum, with host Lillian Care. Joining me will be Isabelle McDonald of FAIR.

Guest Posting Opps While I'm Away

Instead of going dark while off doing wedding and honeymoon during the last two weeks of July, I'm pleased to announce some rather FABULOUS guest posting coming our way! Claire Mysko and Gloria Feldt will be among the lineup, with some live blogging from BlogHer and some posts about the election. The fearless Kristen Loveland of The Choice will be blogsitting (and crossposting!) for me while I'm away.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to open the doors wide open to the GWP community. Your comments are always so smart and insightful, your emails always teach me. I'd love to bring more GWP readers into fuller view. So here's the chance. If you have an idea for a guest post and would like to run it by me before I take off, please email me at girlwpen@gmail.com. The last day I'll be checking email will be July 17.

Oh How I Hate Ohio...?

That was a line my classmates at the University of Michigan used to throw around -- though I think it went "Oh How I Hate Ohio State." Not that I ever cared much about football (sorry Wolverines). But this just in from Nancy Polikoff is making me hate Ohio this morning indeed. Writes Nancy:

Ohio will vote on a paid sick leave initiative that doesn’t recognize unmarried partners, let alone the full range of people’s relationships. Given that there is an excellent model out there in the rules for federal employees right now and the proposed federal Healthy Families Act, it is not utopian to imagine something much better than what the Ohio folks are asking for.

Read more over at Nancy's blog, Beyond Gay and Straight Marriage. And ok, Ohioans (Sam?!): defend yourselves.

NEW! Fall 2008 Girl w/ Pen Webinar

Registration is now OPEN! This course will run for 5 Tuesdays this fall: 10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4 from 7pm-9:15pm ET. Deets below. Click that little button that looks like a flag top right to enlarge. If you'd like a copy of this flyer emailed to you, please contact Kristen (kristen.loveland@gmail.com) and she'll send it your way.

In Progress-Getting Your Book DONE - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: In Progress-Getting Your Book DONE

Quick Hits: Nooo....

Oh nooo - is it true? I don't want to believe it's true. Say it's not. Anyone?

Obama Botches the Abortion Conversation
7/8/08 Alternet.org: One thing is certain: Obama has backhandedly given credibility to the right-wing narrative that women who have abortions -- even those who go through the physically and mentally wrenching experience of a late-term abortion -- are frivolous and selfish creatures who might perhaps undergo this ordeal because they are "feeling blue."

And this next one too--Stepford v. Angry Black Woman? Oy. Make it stop!

Rocky Journey To Being First Lady
7/8/08 Baltimore Sun: In the way we have of boiling human beings down to a handful of adjectives and then forming a caricature from those adjectives, Obama has become the angry black woman and McCain, a Stepford wife.

Lastly, just in case you haven't had enough bad news for one morning, here's this:

Women at Work Find Reinforced Glass Ceiling
7/8/08 Women's eNews: Promotion barriers, harassment, pregnancy and motherhood bias, unequal pay. Women in the paid work force say these are all pillars propping up a glass ceiling. Fourth in "The Memo" series on the status of U.S. women.

Kudos for the tips on all this cheeriness today go to Rebekah at the WMC.

Image cred

Want to Write for HuffPo?

This just in from The Huffington Post, where I occasionally post commentary when I feel like not getting paid. Publishing at HuffPo is a great opportunity for exposure, but for working journalists, well, let's just say I've slowed down my contributions over time. Nevertheless, it is a WONDERFUL opp for visibility and I can't recommend it enough for those seeking to break into print. So here's the announcement about their new initiative, because I definitely want to help them spread the word (and because I hugely admire the new initiative's clever logo, and because I recently met -- and loved -- Eat the Post editor Rachel Sklar!):

It's the electoral race of the century. Political maps are being redrawn, and rules are getting rewritten across the board. Fundraising records have been broken. The candidates are even comparing the sizes of their email lists.

The mainstream media is tripping over itself to report on every last press release and campaign announcement. But do any of us REALLY know what's going on?

With you helping from the frontlines, the Huffington Post can change campaign coverage. OffTheBus is HuffPost's citizen-powered and -produced election site, and we're depending on readers like you to tip us to what's going on or, better yet, to write up the stories you think should be covered.

WOULD YOU HELP US?
Chances are you're a political junkie. That's why you got involved in HuffPost's community as a commenter. But why stop there?

By becoming a member of HuffPost's OffTheBus, you can publish op-eds and news stories to the Huffington Post. You get first-hand access to editors. The best citizen reporting is cross-posted to the politics page and homepage. Or, you can jump into our collaborative reporting assignments, like our Superdelegate Investigation or OffTheBus Party Map.

GET PUBLISHED AT HUFFINGTON POST.
Last October OffTheBus members dropped in on Sen. Barack Obama's Nationwide Canvassing Day from more than two dozen locations. Hours later every observer independently relayed to us that the economy, not the war, was the voting issue. Twenty-four hours later we reported on the significance of the economy, beating the mainstream media to the punch by a few weeks.

As our numbers grow, the same collaborative reporting model that got HuffPost's OffTheBus the scoop on the economy may tell us a lot more about what's happening nationwide.

YOU GAME? JOIN HUFFPOST'S OFFTHEBUS.
Click here to sign up.

Call for Submissions: Women Creating Democracy

In August, Women, Power and Politics (aka the online exhibit qua very creative webjournal of the International Museum of Women) will look at how women have created recipes for democracy around the world. They're seeking fresh thoughts, in a variety of forms, on women creating democracy. Submit your creative work by July 15 to be considered for the August focus. To learn more, visit www.imow.org/submissions.

Other of their upcoming submissions categories:

• September: Why is Voting Important?
• October: Women Running for Office
• November: Women Working Together Across Borders

Deadlines for submissions categories vary. Visit www.imow.org/submissions to find the latest date that you can submit work.

MadDawg Siegel

And speaking of family pics, this is my uncle, Norm "MadDawg" Siegel, musician extraordinaire! For those of you in sweet home Chicago, MadDawg will be playing on July 13 at Bill's Blues Bar (1029 Davis, Evanston) at 7pm. He'll be cutting loose with a mix of some of Chicago’s best singer songwriters from the great Folk era of the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Following Norm will be Jim Fine, a former Evanstonian singer songwriter and guitarist.

And since I can't seem to refrain from wedding blogging, one more tidbit about Norm: he has taken time out to learn acoustic renditions of Dodi Li and and Erev Shel Shoshanim (Jewish wedding tunes) that Marco and I picked out and will be playing us down the aisle A WEEK FROM THIS COMING SUNDAY. What an uncle, huh?!

Girl with Upside Down Book

So Marco and I are digging up childhood pictures in honor of that age-old sappy of sappies tradition: the wedding slide show. This is me, pretending to read, and caught in the act. Goodness knows where I got the hat.

Where I'm Teaching Next...

July 11-13, Amcrandale, NY:
Woodhull Institute Nonfiction Writing Intensive. It's not too late! Join me--and Catherine Orenstein and Kristen Kemp--up in Ancramdale this weekend for some oped, magazine article, and book proposal writing good times! To register, email ecurtis@woodhull.org pronto and she'll set you up.

August 11-13, NYC:
AFTER the honeymoon, I'll be teaching a special three-day workshop this summer for the girls of Writopia Lab and am excited about the possibility of publishing some of the pieces that emerge from that workshop here on GWP. In the spring, I posted one by 14-year-old Writopia Writer, Sam French, on why she was supporting Hillary. In case you missed it, here tis.

Online seminar, 5 Tuesdays this fall:
Back with Version 2.0 of my Making It Pop: Translating Your Ideas for Trade bloginar! Have you successfully tackled the book proposal but are struggling to find the right structure for your book, themes for your chapters, or hooks and anecdotes to draw the reader in? With In Progress: Getting Your Book DONE, I'll take you beyond the book proposal and into the process of writing your first book.

Are you writing a book but lacking an author’s community? A writers’ group and the advice of someone who has done it before can aid you to overcome writer’s block or plain old frustration with structure and content. This one's a hands-on seminar and author-led writer’s group for those in the middle of writing their first books for the public.

The course will offer:

-Exchanges with professionals in the field and your chance to ask those questions that have been plaguing you.
-Strategies for getting unblocked in the middle of Chapter Four
-Tips for crafting introductions and conclusions for the popular reader
-Workshops on playing with structure, chapter titles, and format
-And more.

For more info or to register, please email kristen.loveland@gmail.com.

And lastly, a fall blogging bloginar (how's that for meta) may very well be in the works. If interested, please let Kristen know and we will send a heads up when details are underway.

Blogging While Brown

Yet another conference I wish I could be at but will be on my honeymoon(!) instead:



If anyone attending would like to do some liveblogging from the conference here on GWP, please do let me know (girlwpen@gmail.com).

Watching the Michelle Obama Watch

So I'm finishing up a report this week on media coverage of race, gender, class, and age in the 2008 primaries. And I'm so jazzed by Gina McCauley's Michelle Obama Watch and what I've learned about it so far that it merits another post. And another, and another to be sure.

I corresponded with Gina yesterday and learned that there have been over 90,000 page views in the 20 days since the site's been up. A recent piece about MOW in The Baltimore Sun tentatively asks "Michele Obama Ties Black, White Women?" and notes, "Gina McCauley's blog on African-American women in pop culture has never attracted this kind of attention. But she launched a new Michelle Obama Watch blog in June to monitor and critique media coverage of the potential first lady, and since then, feminists of all colors have been linking and commenting."

The solidarity is key, and Gina knows it's about something more. As she wrote to me in an email:

"[T]his ultimately isn't about Michelle Obama, it is an exercise in how the nation, the news media and entertainment industry in particular, an deal or not deal with an African American women who defies the dominant stereotypes perpetuated about us. If we let them get away with their chicanery with a Harvard-educated attorney, then the next Black woman to walk in her footsteps would have to to trod a more difficult path."

Hells yes.

The site currently has 13 volunteer contributors who have contributed 88 posts. Got a news tip for the site? Direct your concerns, complaints, or praise about the media's treatment of Michele Obama to michelleobamawatch@gmail.com. And watch for more from Gina over at What about Our Daughters, which has received credentials to cover the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August.

GUEST REVIEW: Claire Mysko on About Face

This morning I'm pleased to bring you a review by Claire Mysko (pictured left), author of the just-released You're Amazing!: A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self. I mean really, who better to review an anthology of very personal essays about what women see when they look in the mirror than a writer who is also the co-founder of Inside Beauty and 5 Resolutions to Transform the Fashion and Beauty Industries, two groundbreaking initiatives that have garnered international acclaim for responsibly addressing the intersections of health, body image, fashion, and beauty?! Without further ado, here's Claire. - GWP

About Face: Women Write About What They See When They Look In the Mirror
Edited by Anne Burt & Christina Baker Kline

Seal Press

Too often, beauty and body image are dismissed as superficial issues. Courtney Martin recently wrote about an exchange she had with another feminist who told her, “I’m so sick of hearing young feminists talk about fashion and body image…What about the women in Afghanistan!?" I would encourage that feminist to read About Face—a collection of twenty-three essays written by women talking about what they see when they look in the mirror. This is certainly not fluff or frivolity. The writers in this anthology share deeply personal stories that build a compelling case for the central message of this collection: It’s complicated. It’s complicated because what we see in the mirror is subjective. As we come to new understandings about our lives and ourselves, the way we see our faces can change, too.

Meredith Maran exposes what se learned about her own beauty when she was photographed with her supermodel niece. Kym Ragusa approaches her reflection as ethnography, tracing her features through photos of her mother and grandmother, and the lines on maps revealing where her family has made its mark over the centuries. And in her essay “Souvenir,” Manijeh Nasrabadi describes how a trip to stay with her family in Iran transformed her reflection:

“Snagged by my own reflection, I stopped and stared. Nothing jarred. Nothing tweaked my consciousness painfully away from some imagined, whiter version of myself. It was as if the settings in my brain had changed and reconfigured what my mind could see. Oh, so that’s what I look like. I heard myself sigh in relief. There was nothing ugly or needed to be changed. There was nothing American, Jewish, Zoroastrian, or Iranian to hate or hide. I laughed with myself. I smiled, and it was me I saw smiling. Then I knew what it meant to feel at home.”

I am one of those young feminists who believes it is critically important for women to talk about body image and beauty. We must explore how the reflection we see in the mirror is a reflection of our relationships, our experiences, our cultures, and our exposure to media messages—if not for ourselves, then for future generations.

According to the Girls Inc. “Supergirl Dilemma” study, we have made great progress in overcoming some gender stereotypes over the last six years. More girls now see that they can be good leaders and fewer girls believe that they should be expected to take care of housework and babysitting. The areas where stereotypes and pressures have gotten worse? Looks and appearance. In 2000, 74% of girls said that girls are under a lot of pressure to dress the right way; in 2006, that number jumped to 84%. Sixty percent of girls in the study believe that they must be thin to be popular; that’s up from 48% in 2000.

About Face is the kind of book that can prepare us to be the role models these girls need. The editors say that “looking in the mirror without turning away—and then talking about it honestly—is a radical act.” The women in this collection have taken that task to heart. I hope that others will read their words and be inspired to stage their own radical acts, whether in the bathroom mirror, in the rearview mirror, or even passing by a store window. These reflections offer opportunities for positive change. Let’s claim them as our own.

Toddler with Keyboard

Weekend recap:
I look away for one minute and Talia, age 3,
has figured out how to post on my blog!

Male Bonding: Marco and Gabriel

This here's a shot of my dude Marco eating our friend Daphne's baby, Gabriel, while Gabriel tries to eat his own arm.

That's Daph in the back, furiously trying to pack up and get back to the city, which is where we're headed tomorrow morning too. Alas. It's been wonderful communing with our wedding site out here in upstate NY! I feel like Speed Bride; we got so many wedding errands done that now I'm ready for a vacation :)

One Day 'The Glass Ceiling' Will Be the Name of a Fairy Tale...But Not Yet

Just two quick hits about women as op-ed writers and women as sociologists (how's that for a connection?!) before I really sign off:

1. San Francisco Gate: The Opinion Pages: Mostly A Man's World

When it comes to the opinion pages of some of the most influential American newspapers, it's far too often a man's world. One reason for the disparity is obvious: Women are still breaking through glass ceilings in business, government and academia.

2. Inside Higher Ed: Women in Sociology - Satisfied, but Not Equal

Women in sociology, 10 years after earning their Ph.D.'s, are achieving substantial professional success and high levels of research productivity, but also differ from men in some ways in their career trajectories, according to a new study released by the American Sociological Association.

Among the key findings:

-Male sociologists in the cohort were more likely than female sociologists to be married or living with a partner (83 percent vs. 68 percent), or to have children living with them (62 percent to 50 percent).

-Among sociologists who are parents, women are much more likely to be divorced (21 percent vs. 1.4 percent). Roberta Spalter-Roth, director of research at the sociology association and one of the report’s authors, said one reason for this was that many more women than men come to graduate school as single parents, having already been married and divorced.

-Many sociologists who do have children do so before their tenure reviews, with the largest group having a first child 3-4 years after earning a doctorate.

-Parenthood does not appear to limit research productivity, at least as measured by the number of articles published in refereed journals — a key measure for the discipline. Mothers and fathers reported an average of 10.0 refereed journal articles since they earned their doctorates, while childless men and women reported an average of 9.5.

-Mothers appeared, on average, to earn less than others in the cohort. The income question was asked with categories, not exact amounts. The median income for sociologists who are fathers, and for sociologists who don’t have children, was between $70,000 and $99,000. The median income for sociologists who are mothers was between $50,000 and $59,000.

-On many issues, mothers and fathers both reported high levels of stress related to advancing their careers while also caring for their families. Child care, the tenure process, and teaching loads were key issues for parents.

(Go Katie O and The Op-Ed Project! And thanks to Rebekah Spicuglia of the Women's Media Center Daily News Brief for the tips.)

Any Takers for Live Blogging from BlogHer Here on GWP?

Ok GWP readers out there, make my day. I'm so SAD about missing the BlogHer conference this year (timing, timing) and would still very much like to somehow be involved. So here's what I've come up with: Would anybody who is planning to attend the conference in SF like to do some live-blogging here at GWP while I'm off getting hitched that weekend (July 18-20)? If so, please email me at girlwpen@gmail.com and we can discuss!

Pity party over. And happily back to wedding planning. This weekend Marco and I are staying at the home of the friends whose backyard will be the scene of our wedding--it's so beautiful here. And I'm getting all verklempt.

So I'll be signing off now for the weekend. I wish everyone a VERY HAPPY 4th! ENJOY!

New Bookish Matchmaking Service

Those MotherTalk-ers have got it going on. They've just launched a matchmaking service for Books Seeking Reviewers, called Connections. The listings it seems are typically from authors or small presses who are looking for online reviewers but not a full-blown blog tour. To submit your own book for a listing, email info@mother-talk.com with 500 characters or less and include the book title(s) and contact information. To become a reviewer, get in touch with Melissa at melissa@mother-talk.com. Among others, they are currently seeking reviewers for Mama PhD for a blog tour that starts July 30.

And yet another reason I'm BUMMED I won't be at BlogHer this year: The MotherTalk "First Drink On Us" party at BlogHer on Thursday, July 17th from 5-8 pm at Caruso’s. They'll be giving away nearly 300 fabulous books, and author Shari MacDonald Strong will be on hand to sign copies of The Maternal Is Political.

I know, I know. I have a good excuse. I'm getting married. (Have I mentioned that?! YIKES - it's now 2 weeks away!)

Blogging, Brown and Female

My dear fellow WGL (short for WomenGirlsLadies) Kristal Brent Zook wrote a great piece yesterday over at the Women's Media Center, Blogging While Brown (and Female). In case you missed it, here's the summary:

In a preview of the "Blogging While Brown" conference (Atlanta, July 25-27), WMC author Kristal Brent Zook spoke with Gina McCauley, founder of www.whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com and one of the organizers of the upcoming conference. McCauley's foray into blogging began one year ago, when the Texas-based personal injury attorney was compelled to respond to the demeaning characterizations of black women that she saw making headlines. McCauley's blog demonstrated the power of individuals to speak out and demand change, when she took on offensive programming from BET. McCauley's righteous indignation helped to generate a wave of protest, leading BET to reposition, and then cancel, the show.

Then, in the midst of their success, everything changed for supporters of What About Our Daughters as its readers and writers were blindsided by a tragedy that would dramatically alter the tone and content of the site. As Zook reports, a tragedy at Dunbar Village, a West Palm Beach, Florida, public housing complex, helped bloggers at What About Our Daughters and other sites to find their voices on issues of misogyny and violence.

Read the article here.

And by the way, the WGLs (aka, our traveling panel "WomenGirlsLadies: A Fresh Conversation across Generations") appear next in Washington DC, at the Association of Women in Communications Conference and at Georgetown on September 26. Details coming soon!

And the Organizational Blog Award Goes to...

Thanks to those of you who wrote in with links for blogs from women's orgs and research centers--there were bunches I didn't know about! Like the National Women’s Law Center's blog, Womenstake, which launched in May 2007. It's one of my faves, and I'm giving it this month's Organizational Blog of the Month Award from GWP (I just made that up -- you like?!).

What I like about this blog, and what I believe makes it successful (ie, lively! interesting!) as an organizational blog:

1. It has a range of voices. Contributors include legal interns and senior counsel, program assistants and directors, communications staff and law clerks and policy fellows--in other words, not just the executive director.

2. The posts are SHORT (3 paragraphs max) and supertimely.

3. Posts are full of links to items and articles currently in the news as well as to other blogs.

4. They've figured out Web 2.0 and social networking (at the bottom of each post you'll find these options: Digg This! • Save to del.icio.us • Subscribe to this feed • Email this • Share on Facebook)

5. The blog has a sidebar with links to what's going on at the organization.

Orgs creating blogs: take note! And gratitude to Robin Reed over at NWLC for the heads up.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MOM & DAD!

When I did an image search and found this one, I must admit, at first I thought the champagne glasses were a kid. They're not. They're champagne glasses. As in cheers, and celebration. (Um, only child, much?!)

So Mom, Dad, wishing you bubbly and happiness and much nachas and joy in each other today, with love...from your one and only!

Image cred

I Heart Palgrave

It's not often you hear an author says she loves her publisher, but I do. I just got a lovely mailing from mine--a big ole postcard featuring "New Books in Gender Studies from Palgrave Macmillan" and guess what's smack dab in the middle!

Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild is in great company, flanked by Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls: Feminsm, Popular Culture, and the Posthuman Body (a book that has the creepiest cover ever, but I'm pretty sure that's the point), Stripping, Sex, and Popular Culture, and two more academicy sounding titles: The Gender Politics of Development and Gender, Violence, and Security. Also on their list are The Happy Stripper: Pleasures and Politics of the New Burlesque; Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics; and Third Wave Feminism--the expanded, second edition!--and news of a forthcoming gender series from Linda Martin-Alcoff and Gillian Howie. More info on all of these at www.palgrave-usa.com.

Here an Anthology, Where an Anthology?

A quick heads up that author Claire Mysko will be reviewing the new anthology from Seal, About Face: Women Write about What They See When They Look in the Mirror, in this space soon! Meanwhile, read more about it at The Seal Press Women's Interest blog.

A number of folks lately have asked me how to submit essays for these things. Calls for essays are often listed in the back of magazines like Poets & Writers, Writers Digest, and the like. But me? I hear about them mostly through word of mouth, and on listservs like WAM!, and I often post any that come through my Inbox here on GWP. So if you see them, please do send me these announcements and I promise to post them here, to share with all.

Blog U: Getting Active Online - Wikis

And now, another post in the Blog U series from blogger Elizabeth Curtis -- this one, on wikis. Enjoy! -GWP

Contribute your expertise to increasing web knowledge through WIKIS.

The internet is quickly becoming the premier information repository that people utilize in their daily life. Here's how you can help shape what information is available online and how it's presented by contributing your expertise to the creation and editing of wikis.

Wiki Definition: A wiki is “software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.” From the entry about wikis on Wikipedia: Wikis are used in business to provide intranets and Knowledge Management systems. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work." And a note for the linguists among you: Technically speaking, Wiki Wiki" (/wiːkiː wiːkiː/) is a reduplication of "wiki", a Hawaiian word for "fast". It has been suggested that "wiki" means "What I Know Is". However, this is a backronym.

The most popular generalist wiki is Wikipedia. Got suggestions of other wikis you think GWP readers should know about? Please post them in comments.

So ok, now how to jump in.

Step 1: When you are using a wiki to find information and seen an inaccuracy, correct it! As open public-created documents, wikis give you the power to edit erroneous information.

Raise Your Voice: Statistically, female internet users outnumber male internet users. Women are underrepresented, however, as contributors to wikis. This means that women’s voices are left out of the social reality that is created in the catalogues of information wikis contain.

Step 2: Create entries on topics that have been left out of popular wikis.

Women Missing: In a survey of 200 Wikipedia biographies, futurebird found that only 16% were about women. Further, articles on feminist topics were reported to be of poor quality.

Step 3: Start your own wiki on a specific topic.

You can create your own wiki in just a few seconds through one of a number of publicly-available "wiki farms", some of which can also make private, password-protected wikis. PeanutButterWiki, Socialtext, Wetpaint, and Wikia are popular examples of such services. For more info, see this List of wiki farms compiled by Wikipedia.

And one more thing for you scholars out there: Wikis are currently an active topic of research. Two well-known wiki conferences are

• The International Symposium on Wikis (WikiSym)
• Wikimania, the Wikimedia Foundation conference

Bloggity Blog Blog

This weekend Girls Write Now held a blogging workshop for our girls. Sadly, I had to miss it. But I did a little Q&A with them, which I'm posting here for kicks. - GWP

GWN: How often to post; do you set a schedule for yourself?
DS: I post daily, and I limit myself to spending 1 hour on it each day--usually the first hour of the day, after oatmeal and before heading off to do my work.

GWN: What to post about/ what makes a topic "post-worthy"?
DS: Timeliness, most of all. I use my tagline ("Bridging Feminist Research, Popular Reality, and the Public") as a filter. If it doesn't fit within that rubric, however, doesn't mean I won't post. I've created guidelines for guest posting on Girl with Pen and I try hard to hold myself to those standards as well.

GWP: How do you edit your blog posts?
DS: Quickly. I edit as I go. I'll preview a post and check for spelling errors and do some quick rewriting. With posts I write for places other than my personal blog, though, I'll have Marco or my mom (BEST editor ever) read it first.

GWP: How do you get the word out about your blog?
DS: Network, network, network! And here's my 101 on link love: When you find a blogger you admire, link to them in a post and send them the link. Chances are, they'll likely check out your blog. Form a relationship with them (comment on theirs, email them them directly). Ask if they'll consider including you in their blogroll. If the admiration is mutual, you've got link love.

GWP will be teaching a blogging & journalism workshop for kids through Writopia Lab in August - more soon!

A Film of One's Own

I've been meaning to post this one for a while and am reminded again now as today I once again came across the quote from Virginia Woolf that goes, "For most of history, Anonymous was a woman. " So here tis:

Academy Award-winning producer Pamela Tanner Boll has directed and produced a documentary called Who Does She Think She Is? in conjunction with the Wellesley Centers for Women. The doc features five women navigating parenting and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art. My dear Courtney Martin is one of the experts interviewed in the film. For screening or purchasing, email info@whodoesshethinksheis.net. And to check out the film's blog, go here.

Image cred: WDSHSI blog