Courtney, Me, and a Marquee!

The sign that greeted us outside of Women and Children First (feminist bookstore in Andersonville) last night. Need we say more?!

See ya in St. Charles...

Hard as it is to pull myself away from the cushy comfort of my hometown (Mom, Dad: thanks for the memories!), Courtney and I head to St. Charles, IL for the National Women's Studies Association conference first thing tomorrow. If you're there, come say hi. On Friday and Saturday, we'll be signing books together (depending on how much sleep we've had, we may start signing each others'...) and then on Sunday at 10am, I'll be leading a workshop on publishing books for trade -- here's what it's about:

Publishing in Women's Studies: A Public Voice
Sun, Jul 1 - 10:00am - 12:30pm
Women's studies scholars and students write about topics central to public debate. Yet too often our work fails to reach an audience outside of the academy. At the same time, to write a book in today's competitive publishing climate, scholars must appeal to a broader audience than was necessary in the past. This session brings together the people who can help facilitate these translations-literary agents and editors-with scholars who are currently negotiating the traverse. Panelists will discuss the components of a successful book proposal, the writerly and professional payoffs of "crossing over," and the scholarly challenges of writing "pop" while pursuing tenure.


Session Leaders
Deborah Siegel, Author and Consultant
Jean Casella, Editor

Nancy Crossman, Crossman Literary Agency

Book Tour Blogging, Stop Three

Chicago - SO my kind of town. (Well, NYC my kind of town too, but, well, you know...)

I'm still high from Tuesday's reading at The Book Stall - the place I went to pick out books when I was twelve. Not only did I have my two grandmas in the house and my high school English teacher to whom the book is partly dedicated, but a 9-mo.-pregnant-and-about-to-pop dear friend from high school (pictured left) and my soulmate from graduate school, Eileen (pictured right), were there too. Also attending: my parents' beloved shrink friends, two great-aunts, Aunt Shellie and Uncle Jim, and, yes, even some folks I didn't know. It was so comfy, I felt like I was reading in my parents' living room. Thank you to all for such a warm homecoming -- and for such lively post-reading conversation!

Women Center Stage Celebrated Opening Night...and I Missed It

It was on Monday down in Soho, and I am lame for not posting this in time! Not that you can still go or anything, but just so folks know how very cool Culture Project (the sponsoring org) is, here's what went on -- you know, so you can feel bummed that you missed it too:

Jennifer Buffett moderated a conversation between and about women making serious change in the world, on a variety of platforms: Aisha al-Adawiya (Women In Islam), Gloria Feldt (activist, author, former president of Planned Parenthood), Carol Jenkins (Women's Media Center), Idelisse Malave (Tides Foundation), and Letty Cottin Pogrebin (activist and author). And here's how they describe it:

Culture Project's Women Center Stage a multi-disciplinary festival featuring women artists whose work calls attention to human struggles globally. From Pulitzer Prize-winner Samantha Power to Chinese-Jamaican spoken word poet Staceyann Chin, Eve Ensler to Iranian comedian Negin Farsad, Carol Gilligan to Azar Nafisi, a play about human trafficking to a film about Hurricane Katrina (in 2007 alone) – we don't represent everyone and everything, but we make a pretty strong effort at gathering most of it.

Now that's a festival I want to join.

Girls Gone Mild...?

Greetings from sweet home Chicago! I'm happily ensconsed at Mom and Dad's, preparing for the Chicago book-related activities this week. Still, can't help the surfing, and boy oh boy - I just got to get me this book: Girls Gone Mild by Wendy Shalit. More from me on the subject as soon as I have a chance to check it out, but in the meantime, WSJ piece on it here.

Mom, Dad, and I watched "Age of Love" last night (cougars -- women in their 40s -- versus kittens -- women in their 20s -- duking it out for the love of a bachelor). And then part of "Science of Love" (go Pepper Schwartz!). I have TONS to say, but no time at present. Book tour -- and my amazing 97-year-old grandmother who now lives here with my parents -- calls. But stay tuned!

Event Announcement - Moms Who Work: Myth & Reality

How much am I loving the Women's Leadership Initiative at Demos? They're sponsoring a forum on my book on July 26 in NYC (save the date!). But I also love them for highlighting "fresh thinking, research and writing by and about the importance of women's leadership in building a strong democracy and securing economic prosperity." I mean, what's better than that?

If in the area, don't miss their forum this week on Moms Who Work: Myth and Reality

Thurs., June 28, 2007
Program from 12:15-1:45 pm at Demos
220 Fifth Ave, 5th Floor
New York, NY

Here's the deal:

Join Demos and co-sponsors for a discussion with E.J. Graff on the realities faced by working mothers (and their families) in the U.S. today. Drawing upon her article "The Opt Out Myth" published in the March/April 2007 edition of the Columbia Journalism Review, Graff will dispel myths perpetuated by misleading reporting and media hype, such as the "opt-out revolution" and the "mommy wars"-- and will discuss how those storylines can harm public policy.

Panelists will respond to Graff with research, analysis, and discussion about the real issues facing various groups of working women; how advocates are creating policies to support women and their families; and what more still needs to be done: Carol Jenkins, Women's Media Center; Linda Lisi Juergens, National Association of Mothers' Centers (NAMC); and Lois K. Backon, Families and Work Institute. This event will be moderated by Linda Tarr-Whelan, Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos.

Co-sponsored by: The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, Women’s Media Center, Families & Work Institute, National Association of Mothers Centers, The Columbia Journalism Review

From Bluestockings to Mermaids...

I had a blast reading at Bluestockings last night and was totally touched by Jennifer Baumgardner's introduction. What a natural high to look out on a hometown crowd that's full of friends and loved ones. Thank you to all of you who attended (full house!), to Marco and Elizabeth for pouring wine, and to all those who came for a drink at Lolita Bar post-reading.

Moving from the serious to the silly, I spent the day recovering at Coney Island, watching the Mermaid Parade. What a hoot. I want to dress up next year in glitter, bikini (keeping the top on, thank you), and tail. One part Mardi Gras, one part summer Halloween, and fully New York City, it was a dreamy way to kick off the season and take a quick break from The Tour. If you've never been, I highly recommend. Even if the idea of shells and rollerblades doesn't turn you on, it's a great spectator's event, and very up-with-people and all. I found myself unmistakably moved by the irreverent celebration of beauty, bodies, and sea.

Book Tour Blogging: Stop Two

Washington DC.

My friend Heather once told me, soon after she had her first baby, that all the things that worry you about motherhood when you're pregnant are none of the things you worry about once you have that kid. You worry about different things instead. I feel a bit like that about this book (Sisterhood, Interrupted). Before it was born, I worried (well, worried is strong - more like wondered) that I'd offend older women readers or alienate younger ones. Or both. Or that I'd be accused of adding fuel to the flame by writing about feminist fights. So far, nope.

In that miraculous stroke of stars in alignment and timing (I think being published right after Jessica and Courtney's books took off like wildfire, starting crucial debates, was fortuitous), my book seems to be hitting folks in just the way I had hoped -- and is drumming up some panels and forums for cross-generational conversation among gals old and young. (Stay tuned for more details - but the first one is a Demos Forum on July 26th. Lots more in the works for Fall.)

So what are the worries, a week post-delivery? Only the silly stuff. Like forgetting my camera on the South Jersey trip and not being able to preserve the memory of walking down Alice Paul's staircase at Paulsdale, or not publicly thanking the manager of Olsson's Bookstore last night in DC (THANK YOU, Olsson's!), or not taking a photo (brought the camera this time) of Emily Napalo and Diana, assistants to Ellie Smeal at Feminist Majority Foundation and Kim Gandy at NOW respectively, who came to the reading, to post here on the blog....

So before I forget, a warm shout out to those in DC: Emily, Diana, Michal Avni, Heather Boushey, Allison Kimmich, Sarah Blustain, Ann Friedman, and especially to my host John Schmidt. And to the young women (esp Danielle) who interviewed me for PBS's To the Contrary. You all totally made my day!

Sisterhood Observed

A thoughtful, intergenerational review of Sisterhood, Interrupted--by Linda Hirshman and then Nona Willis-Aronowitz appears in today's New York Observer.

I'm off to catch a train to DC for a PBS taping and a reading tonight at Olsson's, DuPont Circle. If you're in the DC area, please, come say hello!

That HuffPo po now online...

Here we go: "Sex Wars Old and New".

Favorite comments from "williepilgrim," who writes,

Why not consider the following: no matter how much we wish it weren't so, objective truth in reality is a direction in which to travel. It will never be a destination at which one resides.

...and "Lon," who writes:

Are these debates about sexuality to be contrasted with debates about religion and ethics which we are so good at resolving once and for all?

Book Tour Blogging, Stop One

Official tour kicked off this week with a reading at a Border's near Philly, hosted by the South Jersey Alice Paul chapter of NOW. Proceeds from the day went to the chapter -- I hope they collected oodles! The audience was my ideal group, and I'm afraid they set the standard, now, for this tour. The president of the chapter was in her late 20s, and there were members there in their 60s as well.

Before the event, my host, the amazing, inspiring, long-time activist Judy Buckman, brought me to visit Paulsdale, the birthplace of Alice Paul. Apparently, during the long, hard suffrage campaign, Alice occasionally came there to recharge. Surrounded by acres of beautiful country, Paulsdale was her personal retreat. Judy told me about the more recent fight circa 1991 to register the place as a historic landmark ("Now it'd be easier if, say, you were talking about the home of Thomas Jefferson," the Paulsdale crusaders were told.) The gorgeously restored farmhouse (above) is now home to the Alice Paul Institute, complete with leadership programs for young women and girls. I can't wait to introduce the Woodhull (yes, as in Victoria) Institute to Alice's Institute, if they aren't friends already. I find it intensely moving the way first-wave heroines are being reclaimed by women's institutions today.

In a stroke of perfect timing, Iron Jawed Angels arrived from Netflix last night. Can't wait to check out Hilary Swank's impersonation of Alice. Yeah, like I'm now on first-name basis with the author of the ERA. Guess that's what happens when you visit Paulsdale. There's something truly magical and inspirited about the place. Go there. You'll see what I mean.

Response to AlterNet interview: the beat goes on...and on...

Coming this week on HuffPo: I just sent off a post, "Sex Wars Old and New," commenting on the 103 (!) comments posted in response to Courtney Martin's interview with me on AlterNet last week (“Why Feminists Fight”). Let me know what you think. It should be up soon.

Also this week: Watch for an excerpt of Sisterhood, Interrupted in the next edition Mothers Movement Online!

Rock for Young Women - and Does My Book Match My Dress?

If I weren't going to be in Illinois at the National Women's Studies conference on June 29, I'd be at the Knitting Factory in NYC that night, here:

Rock for Young Women will feature musical performances by Bouva, Boyskout, Tamara Fishman, Frank Hoier, and Receptor. Molly Kelleher and Maryann Schaub of Broad Comedy will present "It's Great To Wait," written by Katie Goodman. The evening will also include several spoken word performances.

Tickets at the door will be $20 with half of the proceeds going to GEMS (an organization that provides preventive and transitional services to young women, ages 12-21 years, who are at risk for or involved in sexual exploitation and violence) and the other half to the New York metro chapter of the Younger Women's Task Force (which does great work on reproductive rights, voter education, and other issues important to young women in New York City). Doors open at 7 p.m. at the Knitting Factory (74 Leonard Street). Purchase advance tickets from the Knitting Factory for $15.

Thanks to Patti Binder for passing it on. And to someone named Nathan, whose graphic (above) I stole. I'm very into hot pink today - I'm doing my first bookstore reading for Sisterhood, Interrupted, which has a hot pink cover. Fashion advice needed: Is it tacky to wear a dress that matches your book?

Intergenerational Panel Hits the Road

It's real - and I'm jazzed. Starting this fall, I’ll be touring campuses and elsewhere as part of an intergenerational panel with three AMAZING fellow writers/speakers:

Courtney Martin (author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters)

Kristal Brent Zook (author of Black Women’s Lives: Stories of Pain and Power)

Gloria Feldt (author of The War on Choice and former president of Planned Parenthood)

Together, we feel it’s time that women of all ages talked and listened to one another instead of rehashing the same complaints in isolation. We want to reopen the dialogue about women’s lives, power, entitlement, and the future of feminism, but this time, with a rich, cross-generational understanding. If you're connected to a campus or organization and are interested in bringing us your way, please contact Taryn at taryn.kutujian@gmail.com.

Happy Almost Father's Day!

As much fun as I'm having over here, I hate it that geography and book tour are keeping me from being with Dadio (pictured left, with yours truly) on Father's Day this year. To ease my angst, I've been soaking up a bit of the bloggy goodness going on around Dad's Day this year as I get ready to hit the road. A few highlights:

With trademark savvyness, Cali Yost at Work + Life Fit blog reminds us work/life negotiations are an "everyone issue" and reports on a just-released Monster.com survey where 58% of fathers felt their employers should be more considerate of their needs as working dads, and a majority appreciate having a flexible work schedule.

Lovely piece via Women's eNews on the evolution of the father-daughter bond...

Interesting "resource kit" page for journalists covering same-sex parents, over at G.L.A.A.D.'s website, via Pseudo-Adrienne over at Liberal Feminist Bias...

Congrats to Feminist Dad on the birth of Edie Andrew, and kudos to him in general! I love this guy. You've gotta check it out...

And P.S. Heartfelt congratulations to Michael Heller on becoming a dad this week!

GUEST POST: Judith Glick Buckman, South Jersey NOW

I'm so excited to go for dinner with the women of NOW before my reading at Border's in Jersey on Monday! Judith Glick Buckman, one of the founders of the Alice Paul Chapter - which is one of the oldest and largest chapters, I believe - wrote a very moving letter about intergenerational issues, and her experiences. Here's Judy:

When I was 7 months pregnant I attended a National NOW conference. My daughter, who is now 31, literally got feminism with her mother’s milk and attended many demonstrations in her stroller holding a picket sign.

My greatest fear is that she, like so many women of her generation, assume the battles have been won and due to this complacence, their tenuous right to choose will be pulled out from under them before they know what hit them, much less have the skills or the willingness to counter attack.

I’ve been an activist with South Jersey NOW—Alice Paul chapter for more than 30 years. The good news AND the bad news, is that we are a multi-generational group of women and men from the teen-aged years to the 80s. While we do our best to work together to ensure equal rights, sometimes that goal seems more difficult to achieve than our ongoing battles against the conservative forces in this country.

Based on Deborah Siegel’s insight into this situation and her determination to serve as an interpreter between the second and third waves of feminism, I am excited and confident that her book will be an invaluable guide enabling us to bridge that divide.

When I was the age my daughter is now, I had no idea what gifts awaited me through my women’s right activism--nothing else in my life has given me the same sense of power, accomplishment, sisterhood and satisfaction, which I quite literally could not have imagined in my 20’s. Apart from the great changes to society that the second wave has accomplished, the act of fighting the battles has been one of the most positive and enriching forces in my life.

Deborah Siegel’s message is one that all who care about women’s rights, regardless of age, needs to hear. As well as alerting my daughter’s generation that we need to fight the rest of the battles together, my most fervent wish is that Ms. Siegel’s book will teach those of us in the second wave, how to pass the torch in a way that will not extinguish the flame.

Thank you, Judy! How I loves me that metaphor - passing the torch without extinguishing the flame....Much food for thought. Readers, your thoughts?

Up for air...!

Coming up for air (still high on cloud nine) to catch up on this and that and reality for a moment! I'm reading at Border's in Marlton New Jersey on Monday at an event sponsored by the South Jersey Alice Paul Chapter of NOW. then heading to DC on Weds for a PBS taping and a reading at Olsson's (1 DuPont Circle) on Weds night, so if you're in Jersey, Philly, or DC, I would SO LOVE to see ya. More info bout upcoming events on my website.

So this just in from my hometown paper, The Chicago Tribune, sent via Laura over at Catalyst:

Like bickering relatives at the end of a long holiday dinner, women have been arguing about whether the gender revolution is over and more mothers are choosing to leave work and stay home with the children.

Now experts who shared their latest research at [the Council on Contemporary Families] conference in May say that far from reverting to more traditional sex roles, women and men are becoming more alike in their attitudes toward balancing life at home and at work.

Not crazyloving the bickering relatives bit, but, well, I can't say it ain't so. The article, by the very savvy Patricia Cohen, goes on to discuss how men's and women's desires when it comes to work/life negotiations are more similar than different, debunking the old Venus/Mars theory of gender that still dominate popular culture on this front. Explains Cohen,

Of course, most people recognize that mothers are working more and doing less housework, and men are working less and doing more housework and child care than a generation ago. But what much of the recent research has tried to tease out is more information on attitudes and desires. And so far, the evidence points toward men and women having increasingly similar goals.

Let's hope this evidence, this reality, keeps making headline news. Glad it's made its way, for instance, from the Times to the Trib of my heartland. As for the bickering, I know I'm not alone in longing for the day when women stop fighting each other, pop culture stops polarizing gender roles, and we all start fighting together for things like paid leave and subsidized childcare and eldercare and better healthcare and all that good shit. I mean, stuff.

The article originally appeared on May 31 in The New York Times. In case you missed it the first time, check the rest out here.

Sisterhood, Buzz

I am so excitedly overwhelmed at the response yesterday. Profound gratitude to all who have sent me such kind words of enthusiasm and support! People are starting to ask how I think we might foster better and rich conversations across generations of feminists. So here is my initial response:

1. Host or gather a group of women, girls, and grrls across the generations and use the DISCUSSION GUIDE in the back of the back of Sisterhood, Interrupted to spark conversations about our differences, our similarities, the unfinished business of feminism, and how we move forward from here.

2. Take a younger/older feminist to LUNCH! Do it today. Connections are far best when they're one-on-one.

3. If you're an academic wanting to join the more popular conversation about feminism and add nuance and you have a book that you think could go trade, take my online course this fall, "MAKING IT POP: TRANSLATING YOUR IDEAS FOR TRADE" (more details on that soon, via Girl w/Pen email list)

4. If you can, participate in a LEADERSHIP RETREAT at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership. I'm a Fellow there, and we offer leadership retreats for women in their 20s/30s, another one for women over 50, and many, of course, that are intergenerational. (Scholarships are available.)

5. Stay current and in touch by reading FEMINIST BLOGS (if unfamiliar, check out my blogroll, for a gateway). They provide to-the-minute coverage on wide-ranging topics and are places where rich intergenerational discussion, ideally, can begin.

6. Send me suggestions of your own and I promise to post them here. Or join my Facebook group and start dialogue there.

Thank you again, and happy reading!! I look forward to continuing the conversation.

LAUNCH DAY!

Ok, I'm more than a little psyched - PUB DAY IS HERE!! This morning I was carrying a copy of Sisterhood, Interrupted (which Marco has started to refer to for some reason as "Sisterrupted") as I was waiting in line at Starbucks and the woman behind me asked "Is that book good? I like the title" and I got to say, "I wrote it!" Very fun way to start the day. That, and with a link to the awesome Courtney Martin's piece on my book in AlterNet today. Also going live today is an interview by the amazing ladies over at the Center for New Words.

I forgot to mention yesterday how inspired I was by the Annual Spring Reading I went to on Sunday for Girls Write Now. Those girls have got it going on. The store (B&N at Astor Place) was jam packed, and the girls--all in their teens--read their heartfelt, beautiful, painful, poignant, courageous writing to the crowd. The fearless and ever-inspiring Jessica Valenti kicked it off. Congrats Patti and Maya and all the others over at GWN on such a stupendous event! And thank you for giving this grown up girl renewed energy and inspiration as I launch into this week!

Cartoons, Feminism, and Bluestockings - Oh My!

Sadly, I can't make this reading (hey Marco, when it's comics, is it a showing?) tonight at Bluestockings Book Store down there on the Lower East Side. But I urge those who can and are looking for fun to go. Congratulations, Mikhaela & Masheka! I can't wait to get my hands on your new books.