Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site reed.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!reed!thoma From: thoma@reed.UUCP (thoma) Newsgroups: net.books,net.singles,net.women Subject: Reading Material Followup Message-ID: <1804@reed.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 13:32:47 EDT Article-I.D.: reed.1804 Posted: Fri Aug 16 13:32:47 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 19-Aug-85 21:25:43 EDT Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon Lines: 73 Xref: linus net.books:2072 net.singles:7722 net.women:6485 OK!! Here, in brief, are some of the responses I've received to my request for alternate reading material. This isn't all of it; I've "lost" a few files lately. But enjoy! Ann ...tektronix!reed!thoma ************* When God was a Woman, The Descent of Woman by Elaine Morgan?, Behind the Sex of God by Carol Ochs, The Woman that never Evolved by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy? are all books that I recommend as serious works about the nature of our society. Better to read feminist literature with a clear mind. Zen is ideal for reading on the can. You might try reading Margaret Atwood and the early women writers like Jane Austen and George Sand. I assume you don't mind novels (there are no good magazines. I just don't even bother trying anymore). Anything by Rita Mae Brown is fantastic. Her works include _Rubyfruit Jungle_ and _Southern Discomfort_. Probably my favorite is _Six of One_. Almost all are in paperback (and anyone of them can be read again if you are into that). I don't know how trashy or even how feminist you would consider Judy Blume but I enjoy her books a lot (both the adult and the childrens). Try picking up a copy of Esquire. My best friend (a female) got a subscription to it after thumbing through it a few times at my house. It is not feminist, exactly, but it is sensible, non-trashy, witty, thought-provoking, and cheap. I like the work of Marion Zimmer Bradley, myself. Her stuff is sci-fi, and somewhat Amazonian. I just read the book "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" which I found in a used book store for $8. It's a collection of essays by Gloria Steinem so it can be read in installments. If you want a magazine, try "Mother Jones". One possibility I would suggest is comparative material about the life and problems of woemn in non-Western cultures, e.g. in Islamic ountries, in India, and in Africa... as well as in South America, which is sort of 'Western' of course. One excellent author I'd suggest right off the bat is Perdita Huston, Third World Women Speak Out. You'd be surprised how much better you'll come to grips with and hom much more profoundly you'll understand your own feminist impulses when you become familiar with feminist problems in other cultural contexts. Playboy. It's not exceedingly cheap, but the articles are pretty good. Just avoid Playgirl. My fiancee says it's trash (except for the pictures). Other than that, I'm pretty disgusted with most magazines. Especially the Time/Newsweek/US News & World/People Genre. try New Woman magazine. Have you heard of _Mother_Jones_? It's more political than feminist, but it has a definite feminist slant. Good investigative reporting, good fiction, good everything. I would add to the list the novel "Woman on the Edge of Time" by **** (oops, the last line got eaten .... *8-)