Quick Look: mommy politics, Frida Khalo, feminist princess, Sex and the City
Start here for a sneak peek then click through for more. Then tell us what YOU think in the 'comments' section of each review. Interaction is highly encouraged!
M - 6/23
Princess Ben
By Catherine Gilbert Murdock
I love fairytales and I think, in Princess Ben, I've found a new favorite. The novel, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, has been labeled good reading material for seventh, eighth, and ninth grade girls. While I'm sure that's true, I loved it and I'm in eighteenth grade! Princess Ben follows the story of Benevolence, the princess of Montagne, a small sovereign nation constantly under attack by a neighboring kingdom, Drachensbett. It is, like many fairytales, a coming-of-age story. At fourteen, Benevolence's parents are killed and, with no direct heir of her own, Queen Sophia (the title character's aunt) embarks on a mission to make a proper princess out of Ben (as she is called). Though Ben resists, she is heir to the throne and through trials and tribulations — many of her own making — she manages to find herself and become a competent leader along the way.
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/princess-ben.html
T - 6/24
The Maternal is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change
Edited by Shari MacDonald Strong
In The Maternal Is Political, forty-three writers examine the connection between their transformative experience as mothers and their political engagement both nationally and globally. This is a collection about the interconnections between the personal and the political, the familial and social, and it addresses some basic questions: How does motherhood transform women's political consciousness? How do mothers weave activism into their lives? Does the very act of becoming a mother make one more suitable for and engaged in movements for social change? What is the link between the choices mothers make in their personal lives and the ones they make in their communities and the world at large?
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/maternal-is-political-women-writers-at.html
W - 6/25
Liddle Kiddle Embroidery Patterns (Artist Series 4)
By Lisa Petrucci
I had never before attempted embroidery until I received Sublime Stitching's Artist Series 4 embroidery patterns, "Liddle Kiddle" designs drawn by artist and illustrator Lisa Petrucci. The front of the packet promises "any skill level" and "EZ how 2," and it's true! By following the included instructions, I was embroidering immediately, even though I'm not a particularly gifted textile crafter. With these patterns, anyone who can sew on a button should be able to embroidery right away.
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/liddle-kiddle-embroidery-patterns.html
T - 6/26
Bitter Pie 18
Charlott, the main character of Bitter Pie 18, reminds me of Hothead Paisan, another tough woman in an independent comic who wore shirts with thought-provoking slogans and questioned the world's absurdity. In this installment, Charlott finds herself locked away in a mental institution (The Betty Rubble Clinic) where she is forced to break her heroin habit. She is literally confined with a bunch of characters. Lucy of Peanuts is Charlott's psychiatrist, sitting in a booth proclaiming her fee, updated from 5 cents to $50. Other patients on the ward include Cathy and Nancy from the funny pages, Pippi Longstocking, and Velma from Scooby-Doo.
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/bitter-pie-18.html
F - 6/27
Sex and the City: The Movie
Directed by Michael Patrick King
Far as I can tell, there's never been a consensus on Sex and the City's feminist appeal. It shows intimate female relationships, but it's heteronormative, white, and the characters often talk past each other. The women live (mostly) sexually liberated lives, but they're nevertheless forever in search of the perfect man to fulfill their emotional needs. The ladies are also all highly successful in their own careers, but their love of expensive shoes and sex toys supports a patriarchal, capitalist model. I was not an original follower of the show – never had HBO, for one. But over the past two years, thanks to several series-devoted female friends, I suspect I've seen every episode at least once or twice. A fan of the individual characters more than their sum total, my expectations for the film felt reasoned. Not skeptical or enthusiastic, I walked in knowing product placement was rampant, it was a sometimes-tedious 2.5 hours in length, and that I was in for a film a bit below its cable-television standards.
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/sex-and-city-movie.html
S - 6/28
Spider Lilies
Directed by Zero Chou
In the language of flowers, the spider lily has pessimistic associations in Japan, signifies mutual yearning in Korea, and in China, is a more positive blossom, with connotations of elegance and purity. Perhaps these were flowers of a different color. In Zero Chou's Spider Lilies, the perennial flowering bulb is said to line the path to hell, and be entirely poisonous. Spider lilies decorate the arm of the movie's protagonist, a gay tattoo artist named Takeko. She is pursued by a web-cam girl called Jade, a too-cute private dancer who goes to Takeko's shop to purchase a design to spice up her act, and recognizes the skin engraver as her childhood crush. Their dance is indeed as subtle as the stems of the title, not thorned roses, or the decadence of abundant-petalled peonies.
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/spider-lilies.html
S - 6/29
Frida Kahlo: Song of Herself
By Salomon Grimberg
Frida Kahlo appeared to burst into mainstream consciousness in the 2002 movie Frida, which featured the glamorous Mexican actress, Salma Hayek in the leading role. In reality, Kahlo was an iconic figure for many in Mexico and the art world many decades before. Even today, Kahlo's unconventional and independent artwork and lifestyle continue to inspire new devotees forty-four years after her death.
In Frida Kahlo: Song of Herself, Salomon Grimberg has taken this complex 20th century icon and added her "voice" to the narrative of her personal and professional life and work. Based on Kahlo's candid and introspective answers to a series of interviews and psychological tests that she participated in with her friend, psychologist Olga Campos, we are allowed a brief entry into her private world and the experiences that were to shape her into the talented and complicated person she was to become.
Full review at http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/frida-kahlo-song-of-herself.html
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Peace,
Ama