I went to see Birds of Prey last weekend, drawn by some good recommendations and the argument that it was really a feminist movie. And while I enjoyed bits and pieces of it — the fight scenes really were well-choreographed … Continue reading
Both are on my mind as I walk through the neighborhood on a weirdly warm, sunny day in February. Albany, Oregon is a great walking town and generally quite chilly and damp at this time of year. Icy, too. But … Continue reading
“You know what you do. You don’t know what you do does.” I first heard that at an event with Rebecca Solnit and Joan Halifax, Roshi. Solnit said it, but she was referring to something she had learned from Halifax. … Continue reading
I rarely see horror movies. I don’t like to be scared just for the sake of being scared and I’m not fond of watching people run from monsters and die meaningless deaths. But my favorite movie of the year by … Continue reading
Mona Eltahawy starts every talk she gives with “fuck the patriarchy.” The words are powerful, and made more so when spoken by a woman, particularly a woman of color and a Muslim. Her approach is the same when she’s writing. … Continue reading
Jane Austen wrote horror novels. Don’t get me wrong. I think Jane Austen wrote great books, ones that show us so much of the detail and truth about the lives of some women in Regency England that it feels like … Continue reading
I frequently see on what my sweetheart refers to as my corner of social media lists of things that women must worry about that men don’t have to. While these lists are posted with good intentions, they perpetuate a lot … Continue reading
In this 3rd entry in my Horror Month movie binging, I want to talk about two movies that scream for context. By 1975, through consciousness raising, bra burning, and symbolic jettisoning of razor blades, feminists were scaring men. In 2004, … Continue reading
Over my years of training, I’ve always been a traditional martial artist. Before I began training in Aikido under a master instructor who had been a live-in student of the founder, I trained in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu karate under a high-ranking … Continue reading
In a stunning essay on freedom and power, “What to an American Is the Fourth of July?”, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi writes the following: [P]ower comes before freedom, not the other way around. Power creates freedom, not the other way … Continue reading
