Women's History Month: Elizabeth Grosz

Elizabeth Grosz is a post-structuralist theorist who focuses on the body as text. She analyzes and defines the human anatomy along a gender spectrum which bends and curves to accomodate the multiplicity of human forms. Her book Volatile Bodies explains this spectrum and how, just as gender is constructed, we can de-construct it by recontextualizing our bodies.

Although I haven't read Grosz's later works, I have heard her lecture from them. Sadly, she only sees the possibility of gender deconstruction for females now. In her theory, men are robbed of that agency, which is a bit sexist, though I still think her work on gender theory is overall a step in the right direction.

Women's HIstory Month: Odetta

Odetta sadly died earlier this year, and she is sorely missed. Known for being a civil rights leader as well, her fame came foremost from being a folk singers. The Tradition label reissued her first two albums not that long ago on CD in a collection called Odetta: The Essential Masters. If it is still available, check it out. It has some powerful performances of obscure material you are unlikely to hear elsewhere. I listened to it the morning she died and it pounded in my ears like rain.

Women's History Month: Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates began her career with what may be her best piece of writing, a little short story named "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" Published in 1965, it tells the story of a naive teeny-bopper named Connie who necks with the boys from the other side of the tracks just to escape her boring family. Unfortunately, her adventures with the boys take a decidedly darker turn when she gets noticed by a sadistic serial rapist named Arnold Friend. Friend stakes out her house, and when her parents leave he mentally torments Connie until she loses her mind and can do nothing but obey him. She leaves her house, gets in the car and rides toward must what be imminent doom.

Women's History Month: Mavis Staples

Even when Pops Staples was running the show back in her early days with the Staples Singers, Mavis was obviously the star. She has one of the most powerful voices ever to grace vinyl, strong and sure of itself.

When she tapped Ry Cooder to produce We'll Never Turn Back, she was able to create what may get my vote for the best album of 2007. If it wasn't the best, it was certainly among them. In it, she takes gospel standards and tweaks them a bit to make them sing to today's concerns. I was blessed to be able to see her perform in support of it.

Women's History Month: Lucille Clifton

Lucille Clifton is a poet none for taking the female body as her subject matter. Her most famous poem to the general public may be "homage to my hips," but other poems like "ode to my uterus" and a series of poems about the experience of going through menopause provide her with even stronger evocations of the female experience. Using folksy language to talk about a subject most shy away from, Clifton has forged herself a unique voice in American poetry.

Women's History Month: Malvina Reynolds

You have to love Malvina Reynolds if for no other reason than she is eating the ultimate foo in the picture above. Luckily, though, there is an abundance of other reasons to love her as well. An old folky, Reynolds was a writer of political anthems. Her two most notbale compositions are "What Have They Done To the Rain, Ma?" and "Little Boxes." The former is about the effects of nuclear bomb testing on the environment and was made popular by artists including the Seekers and Joan Baez. "Little Boxes" is a song about the boringness of conformity. It has recieved increased popularity in recent years after appearing as the theme song to the comedy Weeds. "What Have They Done To the Rain?" is ripe for an even larger resurgence.

Its a shame Malvina's not still around. I bet she'd have a whole lot of praise toe the country in electing its new president, and a whole lot to say about how most of us could still be living our lives quiet a bit differently.

Women's History Month: bell hooks

bell hooks was born Gloria Jean Watkins. She is the female counterpart to Cornel West, having authored volumes with him, and in addition to being interested in issues central to the Black community, bell hooks also is interested in women's issues, and particularly is interested in how these issues intersect and how oppression is layered for those suffering from double or triple jeopardy, a condition which describes being oppressed because of multiple categoricals, i.e. race, gender, class, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity. She believes that these idea are so important that she chooses not to capitalize her name, so that attention is drawn to her ideas rather than to her.