#wlclub

[secretdrawerofcreativedust-blog]

“...you can wait for the tide to bring back what it has taken from you.”

-Jessa Crispin (The Dead Ladies Project)

[theactivevoice]

#MasculinitySoFragile they need “manly book clubs”

Check out this New York Times article “Men Have Book Clubs, Too.” At first glace at the headline, you might think this statement is obvious. But the article features a series of “manly” book clubs who have rules like “we do not read so-called chick lit. The main character cannot be a woman” and another group’s rule that “we are not allowed to suggest books that our mothers have suggested” and other gems. The article makes some valid points, like book clubs may be perceived by some as a female activity and that men have social pressures on behavior like women (for example, Edward Nawotka’s observation that “men aren’t encouraged to talk about their feelings or emotions in public.”). Instead of exploring the history behind these assumptions and pressures however, the author chooses to focus on men who have turned literature into a “no girls allowed” club - which, if you remember anything from high school English class, it has been for centuries.

No one is saying you shouldn’t read Charles Dickens just because he’s a man, or that male authors don’t have value. But this perspective - that of a white man - has long been the dominant narrative in Western literature. And to purposefully exclude an entire gender from consideration hurts everyone.

If you are interested in learning more about women in literature, Rachel Syme heads a Women’s Lives Google Group. In her own words, “Anyone can join #wlclub; all are welcome, just bring an openness and curiosity about interesting lives.” 

Which I’m putting down as good life advice in general.

[debbiekinsey]

There was never quite enough for Zora Neale Hurston in the world she grew up in, so she made up whatever she needed.

Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd

[washingtonpost]

#wlclub, the women’s book club on Twitter that will take over your reading list.

[juliaccarpenter]

Women aren’t carrying enough ammunition around with us in our pockets about where we’ve been and who we can consider our heroes. When you see a line of people you can connect to from the past, your life starts to matter so much more. One other person’s life is your life, too. Reading a biography is reading about your life.

writer Rachel Syme 

I wrote about #wlclub, Syme’s brainchild that’s become a total Internet phenomenon. 

[smartgirlsattheparty]

Be a Part of the Smartest New Book Club #WLClub

http://amysmartgirls.com/be-a-part-of-the-smartest-new-book-club-wlclub/

[notabadday]

As a newbie to the world of biographies, I thought I would share my somewhat disorganised thoughts on the topic. More specifically, I wanted to reflect on the immediate intrusiveness I’ve felt in this process. For reasons I’ll attempt to make clear, this sudden immersion into the worlds of other people, as told by different other people, has made me far more distrustful of the form than I ever expected.

My latest blog post, exploring the invasiveness of the biographer. I’m participating in the Women’s Lives Club - an online book club devoting 2016 to reading women’s biographies, inspired by the Hamilton hype and intended to explore fascinating women’s life stories in much the same way - and it’s already been a very interesting, surprising experience. 

This is where I’m at so far. 

[debbiekinsey]

The transgressive nature of biography is rarely acknowledged, but it is the only explanation for biography's status as a popular genre. The reader's amazing tolerance (which he would extend to no novel written half as badly as most biographies) makes sense only when seen as a kind of collusion between him and the biographer in an excitingly forbidden undertaking: tiptoeing down the corridor together, to stand in front of the bedroom door and try to peep through the keyhole.

The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm