NBCC Lifetime Achievement Award



Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, circa 1970s

 

I couldn’t be happier that Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, two leaders of the feminist movement, have been named winners of the 2013 lifetime achievement award from the National Book Critics Circle. Their twelve books, especially The Madwoman in the Attic (1979) and The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women (1985) have been broadly read and taught, and have changed the face of literary criticism and influenced generations of students and scholars. I’ve personally used both books extensively in my women’s literature and Women’s Studies courses, and am grateful for the work these two women have put into their scholarship.

The two friends met in the early 1970s when they were teaching English at Indiana University. They designed a new course together on literature by women and went on to collaborate on a dozen books, working by phone and through the mail after Gilbert went to teach at the University of California at Davis. Gilbert’s and Gubar’s voices have long spearheaded feminist literary criticism and Women’s Studies, and they richly deserve this award, which will be presented Feb. 28 in New York. Here, here, Gilbert and Gubar – enjoy your well-deserved accolades!

 

2012 Humanist of the Year Award

"Equal pay, and I mean for equal work, would put $200 billion more into the economy every year ... Those women are not going to put that money into a Cayman Island bank account, they are going to spend that money, and that is going to create jobs." ~ Gloria Steinem

The Humanist of the Year award was established in 1953 to recognize a person of national or international reputation who, through the application of humanist values, has made a significant contribution to the improvement of the human condition. Selection of the awardee is based on research derived from biographical data, writings, studies, and contributions to humanity.  The 2012 recipient of The Humanist of the Year award is . . . none other than the fantastic Gloria Steinem. 

Here, here!  Congratulations to a humanist among humanists for this well-deserved honor.

For more information about the American Humanist Association, click here: American Humanist Association

Feminist = Fine

First, she took Britain by storm. Next up, the United States.  Caitlin Moran’s mission: to blow up the nasty image feminism has acquired and to reclaim the word (and the ideology) for the people. Sort of a backlash to the backlash. And, she's a hoot (which helps).

According to Sarah Lyall of The New York Times, Moran’s book, How to Be a Woman, is “part memoir, part philosophical rant, part manifesto written with the lightest touch. . . The book aims to make women proud of being feminists.”

Moran says, “The word ‘feminism’ has for some reason gone off the rails to connote, incorrectly, preachy humorlessness and grim separatism.  When I talk to girls, they go, ‘I’m not a feminist.’  And I say, ‘What?  You don’t want to vote?  Do you want to be owned by your husband?  Do you want your money from your job to go into his bank account?  If you were raped, do you still want that to be a crime?  Congratulations:  you are a feminist.”

Check out Caitlin Moran’s website and see for yourself:  http://www.how-tobeawoman.com/

Why do girls have to buy pink stuff?

Thanks to Sociology and Women's Studies Professor Dr. Lisa Fein for forwarding me this wonderful youtube link.  I want this little girl in one of my future classes.  She is in a toy store ranting about why little girls have to buy "pink stuff" . . . and she obviously gets gender marketing better than many adults do.  My hat is off to little miss pink stuff.  I hope she never loses her insights!


Watch her in action:  Pink Stuff!  She's inspiring.

A great blog if you love 19th-century American Literature . . .

Take a stroll through the past and get great insights about literature to boot.  I've discovered this excellent blog, by Rob Velella, a 19th-century American Literature aficionado and scholar.  Oh, the tidbits he knows!  Oh, the lessons he shares!  Oh, the writers he champions!  <cough, cough, including our own Fanny Fern>  Take a look at this fascinating and well-conceived blog when you have a chance.  He covers all the favorites and explores more than a few lesser-known authors.  And rumor has it that he's dishing about Fanny right about now, if you happen to check in. 

Click here:  The American Literary Blog

Scandalous Women

Wow – Elizabeth Kerri Mahon, self-professed “history geek” and noted blogger of the popular website about scandalous women in history has me as guest blogger!  Click here to read my latest about Fanny Fern and to check out other amazing books recommended by Mahon.  Find out more, too, about Mahon’s well-received book, “Scandalous Women – The Lives and Loves of History’s Most Notorious Women.” 

Click on the link below to go to this site named one of the 100 Most Awesome Blogs for History Junkies by Best Colleges.com: 

Scandalous Women Blog