Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books I LLINO S UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Large-scale Digitization Project, 2007. University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science - . rr ~-· i-,- 4, Ar I A t Books make great gifts, but Dick- ing the perfect books for your favorite youngsters can be daunt- ing. Let the expert staff of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books help you navigate the book- store wilderness full of shiny new children's books. Updated and expanded from last year's edi- tion, the Guide Book to Gift Books contains annotations for over 225 of the best books for giving (and receiving) and is available as a downloadable PDF file that you can print out and use for every holiday, birthday, or other gift-giving occasion on your calendar this year. Listed books have all been recommended in full Bulletin reviews from the last three years and are verified as currently in print. Entries are divided into age groups and include au- thor, title, publisher, and the current list price. To purchase, go to: www.lis.uiuc.edu/giftbooks/ THE BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS May 2004 Vol. 57 No. 9 A LOOK INSIDE 359 THE BIG PICTURE Don't Cramp My Style: Stories about That Time of the Month ed. by Lisa Rowe Fraustino 360 NEW BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Reviewed titles include: 360 * The Fire-Eaters by David Almond 372 * Tales from the Waterhole written and illus. by Bob Graham 376 * Actual Size written and illus. by Steve Jenkins 388 * A Hat Full ofSky by Terry Pratchett 391 * Why Mole Shouted and Other Stories by Lore Segal; illus. by Sergio Ruzzier 400 PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS 401 SUBJECT AND USE INDEX EXPLANATION OF CODE SYMBOLS USED WITH REVIEWS * Asterisks denote books of special distinction. R Recommended. Ad Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. M Marginal book that is so slight in content or has so many weaknesses in style or format that it should be given careful consideration before purchase. NR Not recommended. SpC Subject matter or treatment will tend to limit the book to specialized collections. SpR A book that will have appeal for the unusual reader only. Recommended for the special few who will read it. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (ISSN 0008-9036) is published monthly except August by the Publications Office of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and distributed by the University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, IL 61820-6903. REVIEWING STAFF Deborah Stevenson, Editor (DS) Betsy Hearne, Consulting Editor and Faculty Liaison Elizabeth Bush, Reviewer (EB) Timnah Card, Reviewer (TC) Karen Coats, Reviewer (KC) Janice M. Del Negro, Reviewer (JMD) Krista Hutley, Reviewer (KH) Kate McDowell, Reviewer (KM) Hope Morrison, Reviewer (HM) Reviewers' initials are appended to reviews. OFFICE STAFF Molly Dolan Krista Hutley Hope Morrison SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 year, institutions, $75.00; multiple institutional subscriptions, $70 for the first and $50 for each additional; individuals, $50.00; students, $15.00. In countries other than the United States, add $7.00 per subscription for postage. Japanese subscription agent: Kinokuniya Company Ltd. Single copy rate: $7.50. Volumes available in microfilm from ProQuest, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Complete volumes available in microfiche from Johnson Associates, P.O. Box 1017, Greenwich, CT 06830. Subscription checks should be made payable to the University of Illinois Press. All notices of change of address should provide both the old and new address. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, IL 61820-6903. All inquiries about subscriptions and advertising should go to University of Illinois Press, 1325 S. Oak, Champaign, IL 61820-6903, 217-333-0950; toll free 866-244-0626. Review copies and all correspondence about reviews should be sent to Deborah Stevenson, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 501 E. Daniel St., Champaign, IL 61820-6601. Email: [email protected]; phone: 217-244-0324. Visit our homepage at http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/puboff/bccb Periodicals postage paid at Champaign, Illinois © 2004 by The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Drawings by Debra Bolgla. This publication is printed on acid-free paper. Cover illustration from Don't Cramp My Style: Stories about That Time of the Month ©2004 by Image Source/PictureQuest. MAY 2004 * 359 THE BIG PICTURE Don't Cramp My Style: Stories about That Time of the Month edited by Lisa Rowe Fraustino Menarche ushers young girls into complex new worlds of strange and heightened emotions. Menstruating girls enter a worldwide community of women, who, as Michelle H. Martin notes in her introduction to this collection of "period" pieces, need to "learn to be at home in their menstruating bodies." The stories assembled here welcome the reader to girlfriend hour, complete with laughter, tears, and lots of affirmative nods. They extend and turn into narrative art the stories girls have always told in hushed voices on playgrounds, on the phone, to their diaries, and in their prayers. The mild disgust that can accompany menstruation dissolves into humor in Pat Brisson's "Taking Care of Things." Set in a contemporary high school, this story highlights both the absurdity and the business-as-usual ordinariness of periods that always seem to come at the most inconvenient times, as the main character has to cope with trying to impress the editor of her school newspaper, managing a run-in with her crush, and being unable to find a bathroom when she really needs one, all at the same time. Periods don't only cause uncomfortable moments for girls, either. David Lubar's "The Heroic Quest of Douglas McGawain" treats a guy's experience when he makes the mistake of asking his girlfriend if she wants anything from the store besides soda. Faced with the bewildering array of tampon sizes and brands, and precipitously abandoned by his best friend in his hour of need, Douglas McGawain emerges as an intrepid remnant of all-but-bygone chivalry. The fears (and sometimes dangers) of starting your period when you aren't ready to grow up are featured in Alice McGill's "Moon Time Child," the story of a slave girl sold to be a breeder, and Joan Elizabeth Goodman's "The Czarevna of Muscovy," whose main character knows that the onset of menses will signal her confinement not only to the Kremlin, but to marriage as well. In both stories, the girls are victims of systems that treat women as hostages to their bodies, and yet both girls manage to find a way to negotiate their freedom, either literally or imaginatively. Han Nolan's young protagonist in "Maroon" doesn't fare so well. She learns too young about teen pregnancy and do-it-yourself abortions and responds by trying to starve herself in a futile attempt to stave off periods, breasts, and growing older. Then there are the opposite fears of periods that won't come when you want them to, as in Linda Oatman High's "The Uterus Fairy," a lighthearted tale about a mother's hysterectomy and a daughter's pregnancy scare. Both mother and daughter find themselves missing their periods in different ways and discover 360 * THE BULLETIN that a "ride on the cotton bicycle" isn't so bad after all, considering the alterna- tives. Pesky emotional and technical problems like PMS and sex during your period are highlighted in Joyce MacDonald's "Transfusion," a subtle story about irrational anger and its rational causes, and Julie Stockler's "Losing It," a not-at-all subtle story about not quite knowing how to tell the strange guy with whom you find yourself naked in a sleeping bag that you're on your period. The solace that the company of women and cultural tradition can provide finds expression in Dianne Ochiltree's "The Women's House," about the traditions of menstruation and birth among the Lenni-Lenapes, and Deborah Heiligman's "Ritual Purity," where a troubled girl finds healing in the cleansing rituals of Orthodox Judaism. The standout piece in the volume is Fraustino's own "Sleeping Beauty," a darkly compelling tale of a girl whose ambition and perfectionism lead her to believe that she can ignore the cycles of her body. Inspired by a true story about a girl found dead in a college bathroom after giving birth and given folkloric reso- nance through an analogy with Sleeping Beauty, this cautionary tale haunts the others, reminding readers that however they may feel about their periods, they ignore their bodies to their peril. A tone of knowingness and the implicit camaraderie of the already initi- ated permeate these stories, and some of the darker entries place quite sophisti- cated demands on readers as they explore issues of sexuality and its various effects on girls with admirable frankness and clarity. Hence, this is not a warm-hearted, chicken-soupy text to give to prepubescent girls or even first-timers, though it is a strangely welcoming one for more mature readers. The far-reaching range of emo- tion captured by these stories synchronizes with the complexities of feeling that accompany girls' sometimes complicated experience of menstruation. Taken as a whole, the anthology effectively mirrors the blend of mystery, horror, humor, and community that surrounds menstruation-it's a can't-miss with older readers. (Im- print information appears on p.
Recommended publications
  • Gender and Audience Reception of English-Translated Manga
    Girly Girls and Pretty Boys: Gender and Audience Reception of English-translated Manga June M. Madeley University of New Brunswick, Saint John Introduction Manga is the term used to denote Japanese comic books. The art styles and publishing industry are unique enough to warrant keeping this Japanese term for what has become transnational popular culture. This paper represents a preliminary analysis of interview data with manga readers. The focus of the paper is the discussion by participants of their favourite male and female characters as well as some general discussion of their reading practices. Males and females exhibit some reading preferences that are differentiated by gender. There is also evidence of gendered readings of male and female characters in manga. Manga in Japan are published for targeted gender and age groups. The broadest divisions are between manga for girls, shōjo, and manga for boys, shōnen. Unlike Canada and the USA, manga is mainstream reading in Japan; everyone reads manga (Allen and Ingulsrud 266; Grigsby 64; Schodt, Dreamland 21). Manga stories are first serialized in anthology magazines with a specific target audience. Weekly Shōnen Jump is probably the most well known because it serializes the manga titles that have been made into popular anime series on broadcast television in North America (and other transnational markets) such as Naruto and Bleach. Later, successful titles are compiled and reprinted as tankobon (small digest-sized paperback books). The tankobon is the format in which manga are translated into English and distributed by publishers with licensing rights purchased from the Japanese copyright holders. Translated manga are also increasingly available through online scanlations produced by fans who are able to translate Japanese to English.
    [Show full text]
  • Barnett Family Halloween a Vampire and Moana Go Trick-Or-Treating
    CaseBarnettLaw.com 949-565-2993 OCTOBER 2018 BARNETT FAMILY HALLOWEEN A VAMPIRE AND MOANA GO TRICK-OR-TREATING On Sept. 1, my wife and son were both ready to start decorating for the season. Ever since he was a baby, The weather outside may still be hot and beautiful, but inside our house, Nicole Finn has loved going in the has created a cozy fall retreat. It even Halloween stores and seeing smells like fall in our house. Meanwhile, Finn is on a mission to turn our home into all the scary, gory decorations. a real house of horrors. We were a little behind on decorating the new house for fall because we spent a week in San Diego while the water restoration team cleaned up Finn’s waterfall. But we’re personalities will be. Finn back on schedule now and the house certainly shows it. has decided he’s going to be a vampire this year, and he A few weeks ago, we took Finn to Lowes, where they had those big wanted Harlow to be a bat. inflatable Halloween decorations on display. Finn became obsessed with When Harlow heard this, them, and long story short, there’s a 16-foot-tall blow-up ghost hanging she just shook her head and out on our front lawn. It’s so obnoxious and awesome — we’re like the declared, “No! Me Moana!” Halloween Griswolds of our neighborhood. Our family goes bananas for She wants to dress like the Halloween, mainly because of Finn. We end up swinging by the pop-up main character from the Halloween store a few times throughout the season to get all the supplies Disney movie “Moana.” Nicole we need.
    [Show full text]
  • Examining Girls‟ Changing Experiences with the Socially Constructed Labels
    As the Body Unfolds: Examining Girls‟ Changing Experiences with the Socially Constructed Labels „Tomboy‟ and „Girly Girl‟ by Robyn Barbara Legge A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Robyn Barbara Legge 2011 AS THE BODY UNFOLDS: EXAMINING GIRLS’ CHANGING EXPERIENCES WITH THE SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED LABELS ‘TOMBOY’ AND ‘GIRLY GIRL’ Doctor of Philosophy 2011 Robyn Barbara Legge Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology University of Toronto Abstract This study explored the lived experiences of girls with the socially constructed labels „tomboy‟ and „girly girl‟. Using a prospective, life history, qualitative methodology, girls between the ages of nine to fourteen years old were interviewed up to four times over five years for an extensive embodiment project. The present study investigated girls‟ narratives of the „tomboy‟/ „girly girl‟ dichotomy to deepen an understanding of how gender discourses affect how girls learn to live in their bodies. A total of 87 interviews were collected from 27 girls representing diverse social and cultural backgrounds as well as different urban and rural Canadian locations. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes using the constant comparison method from Grounded Theory. Examining the data from a feminist poststructuralist theoretical approach, three main dimensions emerged that described these girls‟ experiences of living with these labels from childhood through adolescence. The first dimension described the shared cultural stereotypes of the „tomboy‟ and „girly girl‟ labels. The second dimension delineated the social outcomes in terms of the privileges and consequences associated with each label in childhood and in adolescence.
    [Show full text]
  • Resources​​To​​Support Equity​​&​​Inclusive​​Education
    Resources to Support ​ ​ ​ ​ Equity & Inclusive Education ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Grades 9-12 ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​ Print Resources ​ ​ Book Kits – A selection of Fiction and Nonfiction books on a topic ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Equity and Inclusive Education: Transgender resources ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Equity and Inclusive Education: LGBTQ resources ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Issues 21 is a dynamic, cutting-edge literacy series that dares students to imagine a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ world where change is possible and, when equipped with the right knowledge, skills, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ and tools, they can make it happen. Sets of 6 copies with a Teacher’s Guide. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Oppression of Women Mental Health ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​ ​ Poverty Justice ​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ Discrimination Novel Sets – 10 copies in a bin When E​ v​ eryth​ ​in​ g​ Fe​ e​ ls Like t​ h​ e ​ M​ ​o​ vies ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ I’ll Give You the Sun ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Calling Dr. Laura (graphic novel ) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Kite Runner ​ ​ American Born Chinese (graphic novel) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ A Long Way Gone ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Bifocal Monster Wenjack
    [Show full text]
  • The Power of Live Performance
    THE POWER OF LIVE PERFORMANCE Music director Daniel Meyer tells us why 2011-2012 might be the best season yet for the Asheville Symphony. PAGE 16 Asheville Bravo Concerts opens its 80th season with a performance by the National Acrobats of China, one of four distinct and dynamic performances. PAGE 22 Kristen Hedberg, Asheville Lyric Opera’s new Associate Artistic Director, shares a behind the scenes peek at Madama Butterfly. PAGE 3 PLUS: The Altamont Theatre page 19 Robb Helmkamp, contemporary furniture maker page 21 Chall Gray and Sandee Shaffer Johnson, Steven Samuels owner of the Bizarre Bazaar page 23 at the Magnetic Patti Best, landscape artist page 23 Heritage Weekend Field. PAGE 17 at the Folk Art Center page 24 Blake Sneed of Bogart’s page 37 13th Season Diana Wortham Theatre ashevillelyric.org Box Office: 828-257-4530 PG. 20 A September 2011 — RAPID RIVER ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — Vol. 15, No. 1 PRINTS COLOR RAPID RIVER ARTS performance INTERVIEW WITH INTERVIEWED BY DENNIS RAY Kristen Hedberg uccini’s Madama Butterfly returns to Asheville, this time featuring Jennifer Davison, international soprano, in the title role. Jon Truitt, acclaimed director of last season’s The Magic PFlute, returns to direct this beautiful new production. This Italian opera is set in Nagasaki, Japan at the turn of the last century. The story centers on a young geisha whose life is changed forever by an American naval officer, exploring the sacrifices she makes Kristen Hedberg, Associate Artistic Director, for true love and the cruelty of the world Asheville Lyric Opera. around her.
    [Show full text]
  • Chuck Palahniuk Snuff 1
    Chuck Palahniuk Snuff 1. Mr. 600 One dude stood all afternoon at the buffet wearing just his boxers, licking the orange dust off barbecued potato chips. Next to him, a dude was scooping into the onion dip and licking the dip off the chip. The same soggy chip, scoop after scoop. Dudes have a million ways of peeing on what they claim as just their own. For craft services, we’re talking two folding tables piled with open bags of store-brand corn chips and canned sodas. Dudes getting called back to do their bit—the wrangler announces their numbers, and these performers stroll back for their money shot still chewing a mouthful of caramel corn, their fingers burning with garlic salt and sticky with the frosting from maple bars. Some one-shot dudes, they’re just here to say they were. Us veterans, we’re here for the face time and to do Cassie a favor. Help her one more dick toward that world record. To witness history. On the buffet, they got laid out Tupperwares full of condoms next to Tupperwares of mini-pretzels. Fun-sized candy bars. Honey-roasted peanuts. On the floor, plastic wrappers from candy bars and condoms, bit and chewed open. The same hands scooping M&M’s as reaching into the fly and elastic waistband of boxers to stroke their half-hard dicks. Candy-colored fingers. Tangy ranch-flavored erections. Peanut breath. Root-beer breath. Barbecued-potato-chip breath getting panted into Cassie’s face. Tweakers scratching their arms bright red. High-school virgins wanting to lose it on camera.
    [Show full text]
  • The Girl in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction
    Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2011 The irG l in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction Sarah T. O'Connor Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Fiction Commons Recommended Citation O'Connor, Sarah T., "The irlG in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction" (2011). Honors Theses. 1038. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1038 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Title: Chick-Lit Fiction Impact The Girl in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Chick-Lit Fiction By Sarah T. O‘Connor * * * * * * * * * Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Departments of English and Psychology UNION COLLEGE June, 2011 ii ABSTRACT O‘CONNOR, SARAH The Girl in the Postfeminist World: Rethinking the Impact of Popular Chick-lit Fiction. Departments of English and Psychology, June 2011. ADVISORS: Professors Judith Lewin, Claire Bracken, Suzanne Benack This thesis discusses ―chick-lit‖ series in relation to popular culture, adolescent development, and feminist theory. The role of the female in the United States is currently dominated by both neo-liberal and conservative postfeminist ideology. Postfeminism advocates female empowerment via consumption, sexual attractiveness and physical beauty, while at the same time valorizing passive femininity and the roles of wife and mother.
    [Show full text]
  • Being Les: Reimagining Masculinity and Femininity Through Body Work
    UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Lipstick tales Beauty and precarity in a southern Philippine boomtown Taqueban, E.M. Publication date 2018 Document Version Other version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Taqueban, E. M. (2018). Lipstick tales: Beauty and precarity in a southern Philippine boomtown. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:05 Oct 2021 Chapter 3 Being Les: Reimagining Masculinity and Femininity through Body Work True to her promise, Ellie introduces me to her les friends. One of them is Junie, who she grew up and went to school with. “We never became a ‘thing.’ We were not each other’s type,” she confides, laughing. Junie is 19 years old and a self-identified les (a term commonly used by young lesbians in the city to refer to themselves).
    [Show full text]
  • Rich, Attractive People in Attractive Places Doing Attractive Things Tonya Walker Virginia Commonwealth University
    Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2006 Rich, Attractive People In Attractive Places Doing Attractive Things Tonya Walker Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons © The Author Downloaded from http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/992 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Rich, Attractive People Doing Attractive Things in Attractive Places - A Monologue from Hell - - by Tonya Walker, Master of Fine Arts Candidate Major Director: Tom De Haven, Professor, Department of English Acknowledgement This thesis could not have been completed - completed in the loosest sense of the word - had in not been for the time and involvement of three men. I'd like to thank my mentor David Robbins for his unfailing and passionate disregard of my failings as a writer, my thesis director Tom De Haven for his patient support and stellar suggestions that are easily the best in the book and my husband Philip whose passionate disregard of my failings and patient support are simply the best. Abstract RICH, ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE IN ATTRACTIVE PLACES DOING ATTRACTIVE THINGS By Tonya Walker, M.F.A. A these submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2006 Major Director: Tom De Haven, Professor, Department of English Rich, Attractive People in Attractive Places Doing Attractive Things is a fictional memoir of a dead Manhattan socialite from the 1950's named Sunny Marcus.
    [Show full text]
  • Super Cow By: Daniel “Pendragon” © 2002
    Super Cow By: Daniel “Pendragon” © 2002 I know that Super Cow seems a tad hokey, but after thinking long and hard after the debacle that created me, it was the closest thing that I could think of that best described me. That and I was a grand fan of the cartoon Cow and Chicken. My name is Danni Macaw; a simple, eighteen year old, tiny little girl – well… once upon a time ago that is – with no aspirations of anything other than to tend the farm, and be as strong and able-bodied as a woman could be. At the time, however, I could barely lift a single bale of hay. It was at least a start. Most of the boys I knew couldn’t even do that. The day of the change, however, I remember standing in my room, eyeing myself in my bedroom mirror, a floor to ceiling thing that was attached to the back of my door, while I stood there naked and striking one of those poses I saw the female body builders use. Rather unimpressive. My chest was nothing more the buds, my hips were straight instead of broad and rounded, and the V-shaped wedge between my thighs was all of a downy gold… really nothing more than peach fuzz. All of my friends were taller than me, and were fully developed. You guys think you have it bad in the locker rooms… well think of what we girls have to contend with. We have to deal with more ridicule, and hiding one’s groin is a whole lot easier than hiding one’s chest, or lack there of.
    [Show full text]
  • Managing Visibility, Sexualities and Risk in the Night Time Economy in Newcastle, UK Emily Nicholls
    ‘Dulling it down a bit’: Managing Visibility, Sexualities and Risk in the Night Time Economy in Newcastle, UK Emily Nicholls This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Gender, Place & Culture on 08/03/17, available at http://wwww.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0966369X.2017.1298575 Current affiliation: University of Portsmouth Lecturer in Sociology School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies Milldam Building Burnaby Road Portsmouth, Hampshire UK PO1 3AS 02392 842229 [email protected] Affiliation when the research was conducted: Newcastle University School of Geography, Politics and Sociology Newcastle upon Tyne UK NE1 7RU Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council under Grant 1116903. Disclosure Statement: I confirm that no financial interest or benefit has been accrued from the direct application of my research. ‘Dulling it down a bit’: Managing Visibility, Sexualities and Risk in the Night Time Economy in Newcastle, UK Abstract Drawing on qualitative interviews with young women in the UK, this paper highlights how gendered and sexualised negotiations of visibility intersect and continue to be important in the ways in which young women self-regulate bodies and identities to manage risk in the Night Time Economy (NTE). Adopting visible markers of normative, heterosexual femininity on a night out can be understood as simultaneously mitigating against the risks of experiencing certain types of harassment, whilst increasing the risks of experiencing others. This paper reaffirms the relevance of negotiations of visibility in shaping non-heterosexual women’s dress as a strategy for managing the risk of homophobic abuse and demonstrate some of the ways in which all young women – regardless of actual or perceived sexual identification - are required to police their bodies in order to manage the additional risks of ‘heterosexualised’ harassment in the NTE.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rhetorical Critique on the Nerf Rebelle Campaign By
    REBELLING AGAINST FEMININITY 1 REBELLING AGAINST FEMININITY: A Rhetorical Critique on the Nerf Rebelle Campaign By: Whitney Johnson A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with DEPARTMENTAL HONORS From the department of COMMUNICATION Examining Committee: Marlia Banning, Thesis Advisor Communication Jamie Skerski, Member Communication John Henderson, Member Assistant Director of Residence Life/ Leadership RAP UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER APRIL 2014 REBELLING AGAINST FEMININITY 2 Abstract While there has been extensive research that has examined the pressure young girls feel to fit into social norms (Paetcher, & Lafky & Duffy), this study is unique because it investigates society’s anxiety in response to the threat young girls pose to dominant masculinity. Through a feminist critique of the Hasbro Nerf Rebelle campaign, this study analyzes the feminization of typically masculine toys and asks whether the results of the toys and their marketing are empowering, disempowering, or some combination of the two. Drawing on the work of previous scholars and the discussion of the different waves of feminism, Title IX, and more references such as the Hunger Games and the feminization of the NFL, this study will illustrate how the Nerf Rebelle campaign inherently reinforces gender barriers while simultaneously challenging dominant masculinity. Introduction Young American girls struggle with their gender identities: Should they be a girly-girl? A tomboy? A feminized tomboy? These possibilities plague young girls in part because of society’s incessant need to frame how girls see themselves based on the activities they participate in. Tomboy and girly-girl identities tend to be polarized, for instance, “tomboy identities can be constructed not so much in relation to masculinity, but through a rejection of femininity” (Paechter, p.
    [Show full text]