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Another mythologizing creature… sharing sparks of intellectual passion!
Last three titles of my ten most influential books and articles which helped shape my thinking regarding feminism and the human community — woo! Got it posted at a reasonable hour, too! :)
8) Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas by Barbara Alice Mann
I loved this book! It's so refreshing to read excellent research that simultaneously recognizes and refuses the Western fallacy of the disinterested, distanced researcher. The author, Ohio Bear Clan Seneca and professor Barbara Alice Mann, successfully interweaves Western scholarly research with a powerful native perspective — the Iroquoian Story Keeper's style of oral record — to produce a narrative which is at once rigorously researched, richly threaded with humor, and a fascinating read.
Mann explains the profound influence and direction of Iroquoian women in the politically consensus-seeking, economically gift-oriented, socially egalitarian, and spiritually feminine divine Iroquoian social realm, through chapters which explain the culture's social conceptions of balance. Strikingly, Mann also traces the slow erosion of women's rights, duties, and honors through the often violent influence of the two Western "religions" of capitalism and Christianity — including how modern Western research wipes women clean from the record. Despite the horrifying record of Western atrocities, however, the author's interjections of dry humor make this a profoundly hopeful work, offering the unique template of a far more egalitarian and widely distributed matriarchal society than is ordinarily available for modern study and learning. Check out my quickie review here!
9) "An Organizational Approach to Undoing Gender: The Unlikely Case of Offshore Oil Platforms" by Robin J. Ely & Debra E. Meyerson
This article was a wonderful revelation to me, with its scientific examination of how we can "undo" destructive gender roles. As the authors themselves note, it was quite startling for them to discover "an organizational initiative designed to enhance safety and effectiveness [which] created a culture that unintentionally released men from societal imperatives for 'manly' behavior" (p. 3). The original article may (unfortunately) be difficult to find, but I blogged about it here.
10) The Tending Instinct: How Nurturing is Essential to Who We Are & How We Live by Shelley E. Taylor
Holy cats, where do I start?! This book was amazing — so many incredible ideas! Definitely read this one for a strong scientific backing to the fascinating discoveries it relates. Fortunately for me, I've already written about it in my blog, so you can check it out in:
There you go! That's 10+ really fascinating and personally influential texts. Admittedly, most of these books are rather scientifically oriented, mostly because it's been my experience that hard data is what is required to get people to even consider changing their minds. This is not to say that I dislike poetry and prose, or lyrical writing — there are several books in my "polishing" category that are beautifully written and a pleasure to read. Just off the top of my head I recall:
Finally, for those who feel philosophy isn't a "hard" science, I recommend Feminism & the Mastery of Nature by Val Plumwood. If you follow her staggeringly deep and articulate reasoning and it doesn't convert you… then nothing will. :)
Bestiaries depict mythical, moralizing animals, but are also potential allegorical sparks that can bloom into brilliant mental bonfires. My bestiary is this mythologizing animal's fascinated exploration of beauty & meaning in the wonder of existence -- in the hopes of inspiring yet more joyous flares of intellectual passion.
Lisa solomon
December 3rd, 2020 at 22:42
Hi I’m fellow CIIS student, May return this spring semester to finish my dissertation. Love your blog and applied bibliography. I’m studying to teach belly dance here in Tel Aviv with a teacher. Loving it.
Collie
December 4th, 2020 at 10:36
Hi, Lisa — glad to hear you're enjoying my blog, & hope it's useful to you! What's your dissertation on? Also, what kind of belly dance are you learning?