Where Did You Sleep Last Night?: A Personal History is a memoir about one of the the more melancholy aspects of Danzy Senna’s childhood: her relationship with her father. Senna’s parents, an interracial couple, married in 1968 with dreams of being a part of an idyllic, multicultural family. This book is a complex blend of remembrance, internal exploration, and detective work, as Senna travels throughout the South to uncover pieces of her father’s story she never knew as a child and young adult.
Though Senna does ultimately finds something that resembles acceptance and understanding, Where Did You Sleep Last Night? does not have a tidy ending, which only lends the book its charm. I talked to Senna about the challenges of writing such a personal story, and what she gained in the process.
For me Blogher 2009starts tonight as I attend the speaker training session and I get to meet my fellow panelists. I'm pretty nervous, but equally excited. This is my second Blogher conference, but that was two years ago. The world of blogging has exploded since then. The world of women blogging has changed A LOT.
Mandy wrote a great post on the upcoming Ms. magazine cover last week that I've been meaning to respond to. First of all, I'm in this issue, so I'm a bit biased to think that y'all will judge the issue based on the cover and will skip the great article on mom blogs. But that cover...
Mandy makes some great points that there are those of Hindu faith that see the use of multi-armed imagery as co-opting their deities. Her post really made me think and consider my own religious blindness. As a recovering Catholic, I tend to ignore religious imagery and how it gets used in pop culture. It's not something that pops up in my head of the many warning signs that set off my alarm. So I appreciate it when I can read something that makes me think, "I'm so ignorant!"
The confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor have mostly focused on race and how she may or may not allow her Latinidad to impact her judicial rulings on the Supreme Court. Today Linda Chavez, Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and regular on FOX News, took the cake. But they have also highlighted something that's been picking at me since becoming a mom.
This week's featured mom blog, Hijas Americanas, is written by another mom whose family is crafted by adoption. It's also a blog that didn't start out as a mom blog, but as Rosie Molinary's life opened up for her son to enter into it, her blog morphed as well.
Margaret Cho explores body image and self-love in her new television series Drop Dead Diva. I recently watched the pilot episode and spoke to Cho about her involvement in the show. The first person to be cast, Cho believes DDD has the opportunity to reach a diverse audience with the message that fat women’s beauty is not just internal.
Social Commentary
Intimate Oppression: An Interview with Danzy Senna
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?: A Personal History is a memoir about one of the the more melancholy aspects of Danzy Senna’s childhood: her relationship with her father. Senna’s parents, an interracial couple, married in 1968 with dreams of being a part of an idyllic, multicultural family. This book is a complex blend of remembrance, internal exploration, and detective work, as Senna travels throughout the South to uncover pieces of her father’s story she never knew as a child and young adult.
Though Senna does ultimately finds something that resembles acceptance and understanding, Where Did You Sleep Last Night? does not have a tidy ending, which only lends the book its charm. I talked to Senna about the challenges of writing such a personal story, and what she gained in the process.
And it's time for Blogher...
For me Blogher 2009starts tonight as I attend the speaker training session and I get to meet my fellow panelists. I'm pretty nervous, but equally excited. This is my second Blogher conference, but that was two years ago. The world of blogging has exploded since then. The world of women blogging has changed A LOT.
Is This Feminism at Work?
Sprite Ad Is Overblown
About that Ms. Cover
Mandy makes some great points that there are those of Hindu faith that see the use of multi-armed imagery as co-opting their deities. Her post really made me think and consider my own religious blindness. As a recovering Catholic, I tend to ignore religious imagery and how it gets used in pop culture. It's not something that pops up in my head of the many warning signs that set off my alarm. So I appreciate it when I can read something that makes me think, "I'm so ignorant!"
How do two affirmative action babies raise their own baby?
The confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor have mostly focused on race and how she may or may not allow her Latinidad to impact her judicial rulings on the Supreme Court. Today Linda Chavez, Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity and regular on FOX News, took the cake. But they have also highlighted something that's been picking at me since becoming a mom.
Changing Beauty Standards With a Scalpel
Empowerment through repulsion? Or brilliantly contrived self-transformation?
Ms. Magazine Offends with Summer Cover
Did Ms. learn nothing from the National Review debacle?
Featured Mom Blog: Hijas Americanas
This week's featured mom blog, Hijas Americanas, is written by another mom whose family is crafted by adoption. It's also a blog that didn't start out as a mom blog, but as Rosie Molinary's life opened up for her son to enter into it, her blog morphed as well.
Drop Dead Diva: Sunday Night's Big Comedy
Margaret Cho explores body image and self-love in her new television series Drop Dead Diva. I recently watched the pilot episode and spoke to Cho about her involvement in the show. The first person to be cast, Cho believes DDD has the opportunity to reach a diverse audience with the message that fat women’s beauty is not just internal.
Audio Smut