Peace

Memorial Day, rightly, makes us pause in gratitude and respect as we think about those who have given their lives for our country.  In fact, the day makes us think about war and the system of warfare in general.  Warfare has become the “normal” state of existence, which, to me, is one of the greatest tragedies of our civilized world.  Perhaps we could use this moment of consciousness to shift attention to the idea that without war, we’d have no need for national mourning let alone for a day set aside for such a sad purpose.  Crazy thoughts, indeed!  How would we ensure safety and security in a violent world without war – or at least without the threat of it?

Enter a new paradigm – peace.  Informed peace.  Peace meant to replace the militaristic systems that encourage war and ravage populations across time and geography.  Peace fostered and led by a new sort of international leader – women.  The Institute for Inclusive Security lays out a women-centered philosophy for peace-building, one that is gaining momentum across continents as more and more women refuse to stand by and watch their communities and families destroyed by senseless warfare.  Take a peek at their ideas here and see what you think about their stated mission to "change the international security paradigm [because] sustainable peace is possible only when those who shape policy include women and other affected groups in the prevention and transformation of violent conflict."

Funny?

By, Jacky Fleming

To tickle your funny bone (or maybe to irritate it), I've gathered up a gaggle of feminist comics, by some amazingly creative artists, for your Monday musing. Which do you connect with most?

By, Judy Horacek

By, Tom Gauld

By, Barry Deutsch

By, Corinne Mucha

Snaggleteeth

 

What's wrong with this picture? Yes, you may have noticed that the model's teeth are not perfect. But, that's not what's wrong. What's wrong is that she is a model for a dental procedure popular in Japan (and getting popular elsewhere) that causes teeth imperfections.

 

Call it the opposite of braces. Apparently, some young women are now afraid to have perfect teeth because no decent man is going to be attracted to someone who is too perfect -- in fact men, in general, the logic goes, will feel most secure with a flawed woman.  Such teenagers beg their parents to pay hundreds of dollars to mess up their mouths. Specifically, most want the "snaggletooth" look -- a vampire-like look where plastic fronts are affixed to the canines, or eye teeth.  Called yaeba in Japanese, cultural studies theorists say the look is “pre-orthodontic,” a look that suggests delayed baby teeth or a too-small mouth. 

 

How surprising that, once again, the latest craze not only emphasizes youth, but sexualizes younger and younger "looks" and makes perfectly normal women willing to change their appearance primarily for male approval.  Sigh.

 

 

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!