culture

This is an article about the personal experiences of the author at a liberal arts college in Minnesota. It was especially meaningful to me because I am a student at a liberal arts college, and I see many of the things the author discusses in my own academic environment.

It’s a delicate thing, coming to the moment when you realize that your perceptions do count and that your writing can encompass them. You begin to understand how quiet, how subtle the writer’s authority really is, how little it has to do with “authority” as we usually use the word.

Music. It surrounds us; it fills the air, it fills our hearts. We can rise to great heights of joy or plummet into sorrow while we listen. Musicians pour their lives out into the world for all to see. Their emotions are clear, their souls are visible; we can connect to them through this music.

Throughout history, music has been defined by so many women. We have amazing jazz vocalists, pop singers like Avril Lavigne and Jennifer Lopez, artists like Alicia Keys and many, many more who fill up our world of music now and long ago. Every day we listen to music; our world is musical itself.

But about forty years ago(correct me if I'm wrong) there came a new genre of music. Rock music. This was filled with guys. Male vocalists, guitarists, drummers... We have the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, amazing artists.

It's taken me a while to finally create another blog. In many ways, I am overwhelmed by the amount of sexist material I have seen lately and the amount of sexism and classism I've been forced to experience.

When the Democrats won both the House and The Senate I think alot of people in this country sighed with relief. When we found out we would be having our first female speaker of the House and more women in Congress then ever, and when we found out that people in SD voted against the abortion ban, I'm sure that many of us cheered. Finally we were making progress. Finally women would be resented in Congress and our voices would be heard.

I am...in love...with rock music. My faves? Well, personally it's U2, Billy Talent, Chili Peppers, System of A Down, Evanescance, and Metric-in that order. Then there are ones I /can/ like, such as Blue October and the wonderfulness of Green Day (old).

There are a lot more publicly loved male rock bands than female ones. I often wonder if this is partially because fewer girls are into rock, or want to make the music, or what? I want to be in a band-but I don't know anyone who can play an instrument other than the african drum, but that's not rock!

Evanescance&Metric are bands w. female singers, both of whom have gorgeus voices. But now it's time to throw a little Metric in, and their song: Poster Of A Girl, on the CD Old World: Where Are You Now? Written and played by them.

"We always knew when we took on the issue of violence against women that somehow our opposition would come after us. " - Patricia Ireland

"[We need to] talk about the root causes of terrorism, about the need to diminish this daily climate of patriarchal violence surrounding us in its state-sanctioned normalcy; the need to recognize people's despair over ever being heard short of committing such dramatic, murderous acts; the need to address a desperation that becomes chronic after generations of suffering; the need to arouse that most subversive of emotions -- empathy -- for "the other"; the need to eliminate hideous economic and political injustices, to reject all tribal/ethnic hatreds and fears, to repudiate religious fundamentalisms of every kind. Especially talk about the need to understand that we must expose the mystique of violence, separate it from how we conceive of excitement, eroticism, and "manhood"; the need to comprehend that violence differs in degree but is related in kind, that it thrives along a spectrum, as do its effects -- from the battered child and raped woman who live in fear to an entire populace living in fear." Robin Morgan, from The Demon Lover

I've noticed that there seems to be a lack of Feminist media-when I look on the right, I see the same books over and over again. There's not that much of what we see as 'feminist' literature. So I wanted to open your eyes, and talk about why I became a writer.

My original inspiration was-unfortunately-one JK Rowlings, a single mom who struck it rich, straight into the top 25 richest people list, with Harry Potter. A series of books which I used to adore. Now I could care less, but I'm still a writer thanks to her. I carried on with my inspiration-it had become a part of who I am.

Then there was Silver Birch club. A reading club-an excellent idea. If you EVER hear about Silver Birch, or it's companions, I would seriously encourage siblings/cousins/neighbours to look into it for kids in grades 4-6.