I have always found Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique troublesome. I could never put my finger on why exactly. Of course, I am writing from a privileged position. No one has questioned my desire not to be a housewife or have children. No one has told me that I can’t go to graduate school based upon my gender. The world has changed a lot since 1963 when the book appeared.

Christina Hoff Summers reconsiders this groundbreaking text:

But in building her case, Friedan made a fatal mistake that undermined her book’s appeal at the time and permanently weakened the movement it helped create. She not only attacked a postwar culture that aggressively consigned women to the domestic sphere, but she attacked the sphere itself — along with all the women who chose to live there.

Perhaps, what my issue with the text is that some women did choose to live in the private sphere of that time. However, how many other choices did women have?

Whatever the issue may be, The Feminine Mystique’s influence is still felt over sixty years later.

this friday evening.  I have a short essay to write on an excellent book, but I keep putting off the writing. Hmmm.

So I’m researching dissertation ideas. Not so good at focusing on the present, am I?

Must be why I like the past. Oh I’m so hilarious!

after reading.

Andy seems to feel the same way I do!

OK whats with all of the blogging tonight?

I’m watching Jay leno (why?) and finding some of his opening monologue actually funny…huh?

I must not watch enough tv or maybe he is funny for like 5 minutes then it runs out.

I keep hearing about how no one knew about Sarah Palin before her announcement as McCain’s running mate. While it is true Alaska is a “small” place in regards of population, many people may not need or think they need to know about it. However, I contend that is further proof that the general American population not only does not know enough about other countries (where is London on a map?), but needs to know MORE about its own country. Shouldn’t we know about the governor of every state?

I don’t think I know enough and I’m a fairly intelligent person.

Back to paper writing…!

Yesterday when I was driving home from visiting my mom, I was listening to an intriguing and disturbing story on NPR.

It turns out that Native American women who are rape victims on reservations cannot press charges against their attacker if the attacker is a visitor to the reservation.* This was shocking to me.  The piece was actually a follow up on a story they did  a year ago.

Disturbing information from the article:

• One in three Native American women will be raped in her lifetime.
• A 2004 study conducted by the department found that the number of suspects investigated by U.S. attorneys for crimes on Indian land declined 21 percent from 1997 to 2000.
• There aren’t enough police to investigate sexual assaults, and few of the cases are prosecuted.

My first thought is disgust for these women and my second thought is what can I do to raise awareness over the perpetual invisibleness of these crimes…

* I haven’t found this written anywhere but heard it on the radio show.

is NOT happening.  Why oh Why!

Well, there are lot of reasons. But one that catches my attention is the fact that I no longer have an hour commute on public transportation. Rarely did I not read something when I was on the subway.  So I have lost that time just for myself.  I need to create that time now.  Hmmm.  I didn’t think I’d miss the subway but I may just be missing it!

I have been denied a

• MI driver’s license (don’t have enough utility bills to prove I live in the home that I bought)
• An East Lansing library card because I don’t have a MI DL stating that I live in East Lansing
• Sam’s Club card (I know I know Wal-Mart is evvvvillll BUT there is no costco in the Lansing area)

The reason for not having the Sam’s Club Card is that my husband and I don’t have the same address on our NY State licenses.  Why?  Well, I never bothered to change mine from my parents address because why deal with bureaucracy unnecessarily??

But yesterday, I was able to get a library card up in Northern, MI in the area my parents live.  Without a problem!  I didn’t need to be a MI state resident or even live in the area. I just had to pay $5.  Why is it so easy you ask? Because a lot of people summer (funniest verb ever) up here, traveling from downstate MI, Illinois and other Midwestern states, spending a good chunk of their time here to warrant checking out library books.

So I got my library books and was able to check out two Atwood books:

Lady Oracle

AND

Bodily Harm 

OK before I get my Atwood groove on I need to do some laundry, get some coffee, do some writing or reading (not necessarily in that order!)

Got sent this…

An article in Advertising Age (must be registered on AdAge to read, or find it in the press section of bettybeauty.com) describes how Betty came to be: the creator, Nanci Jarecki, first had the idea when visiting a salon in Rome where she witnessed female customers being handed little brown bags, with “such delight,” as they left the salon. In those bags, dye to match their Bettys to their Wilmas. From there, the research and development began with casual studies by a gynecologist, who reported that not one person had matching hair down there, and salon workers, who reported that many customers were interested but had “sensitivity” concerns. via

It is an intriguing idea if you’re into that. My first question was regarding the safety of dying your pubic hair. But also where did Nancy Jarecki come up with the name “Betty” for the product? I also wonder if this is just another example of how women are being cajoled into changing themselves not because they want to but because someone else wants them to.  I don’t necessarily get that feeling from the website.

Definitely food for thought…

Well, I officially no longer live in New York City and now live in Michigan.  The reasons for not blogging can be fit into several categories:

(1)    Unstable internet
(2)    Never ending home improvement projects
(3)    Unpacking
(4)    Family issues
(5)    Grad school preparation
(6)    Working on an essay for possible publication

However, when I look at my list I am reminded of how much we haven’t gotten done. Sure, we have gotten a lot done like painting our living room and hallway but the kitchen remains unpacked as does other parts of the house (RE: my office eek!). It feels like some chore or home improvement is standing in the way of getting stuff done.  So what do we do? Pack up the car and the kitties and drive up north to stay in my parents’ cottage.  We’re in vacationland now.  It’s nice to be here but also busy. We’re here when everyone else in downstate Michigan is. I am quickly learning the geographical politics of my new state.

What to blog about then? Well, items one through four are either commonplace or too personal for this space. So items five and six…

Grad School Preparation:

I have done zero to nothing for this category.  I wanted to take July by storm with reading and so far that hasn’t happened.  We were coming up to vacationland yesterday and I could not find the box of books I need/want to read.  We had in the van we drove to Michigan from New York City in.  But I COULD NOT find it. Gah. So I grabbed a bunch of other books that will be helpful to read. Hopefully, when I return to the house I will find that box. Of course, I didn’t write down all the books I had in that box because why would that make sense? Grr.

Also, I need to write some emails to professors, the DGS, and potential advisors to tell them I have moved to Michigan and am ready to start school in less than five weeks.  I don’t know what is keeping me from writing these emails? Am I scared? Just distracted? Probably because I have no desk set up in our house yet.  I do have a room of my own but so much to do to it before I can really use it.  I have to paint it and then file all of my files in a way that makes complete sense.

Working on an essay for possible publication:

In late June, I was approached to contribute to a collection about soap operas today.  My initial hesitation was that I didn’t know if I had enough time. But I decided to do it anyway. Soap opera research is my pet project. I intend on writing a book about Soap Operas as a indicator of essential/key Historical Events after I write a book or two first about religion and gender.
The article I am writing about is the current state of race on daytime television. Clearly that’s a broad topic but I am focusing on a particular set of characters, Angie and Jesse on All My Children.

One task I had to do was to watch some footage of recent storylines on youtube.  This was hard to do without Internet for a while. So I sat in starbucks with earplugs in watching all of these scenes. Of course, I found them interesting from a racial standpoint but also it seemed a bit old fashioned, especially the scenes when Angie and Jesse get remarried.

“A man is born, a woman is born for him.”

 Here is the link because my blog won’t let me load a video…wha!

Dr. Angie Hubbard saying she prefers to be called Mrs…for the day only. Its at the beginning of the video.

I was struck most by the poem about woman being made for man.  I guess I forgot how patriarchal soap operas are.

The paper is coming along so far. Its progress will be interrupted by a weekend of fun on Beaver Island where I can indulge in my real passion…early offshoot Mormon groups.

In the next week of having some solitude and relaxation away from unpacking and home improvements, I will sink my teeth into some good stuff like reviewing Simone de Beauvoir (How I love her!) which is always worth it to do.

So items one through four deserve further explanation but until then I am focusing on me!

Yeah, I feel these kitty’s pain! Ready to move on!