Women Writers on the Rise

Finally some good and up lifting news! Woman writers are making an impact all over the world. It's great to hear someone say:

"Publishers have realised that new women writers are really where it's at it right now. They're prepared to offer huge advances because everyone wants the new Zadie Smith. I can't think offhand of a young male writer who has made a comparable splash."

It really is true though many up and coming writers are recently woman rather then men. (I will look for specific examples for future posts.) This article focuses specifically on British woman that have become prominent in literature. It also provides the Orange Prize long-list which is a list of writers who are chosen by the Independent literary editor Boyd Tonkin. It's great to find that "Publishers have been forced to understand two things. Women writers can deliver big returns." but it's really too bad that it has taken this long for publishers to realize that. Another encouraging fact for up and coming women writers is the fact that more and more woman are becoming publishers and editors allowing more women to put their writing out there.

Women's literature: The next chapter

"Of course Turkish women are stronger than men"

Although we often think of the United States as such an advanced country and so far ahead with the idea of democracy and equality, we should take a second to humble ourselves. We have not had a woman president while many other countries have and there is still much racism while other countries have made more advancements in those areas. We often think that feminists are usually Americans but this is not true at all. Especially in areas of the Middle East where women are often mistreated and discriminated. Feminists can be found all over the world though, including Turkey, as seen in this article.

Taboo-free Turkish women writers strive to achieve equality

I know I promised good news in my last blog and this may not seem like good news but it is inspiring that woman in other countries are fighting for their rights. I don't think many woman writer in the U.S. would openly say "I'm the national bitch anyway in Turkey. I think they just want me to shut up," as Perihan Magden said.

More than Just a Silver Lining

Through out several of the readings and things we have done in class one thing I have constantly criticized is that many of the authors are often pessimistic and don't recognize how far women have come. Reading back on many of my blogs I thought I was often being guilty of the same thing and decided to look for woman authors who were succeeding and I knew there had to be many out there so look for those in the following blogs!
The first one I found, Margaret Atwood, mention previously in another blog, is probably most famous for her novel "A Handmaid's Tale". Atwood has one several awards and just recently most recently was awarded Prince of Asturias prize for literature. It's great to know that there are woman out there earning recognition worldwide.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jXe5OPa_aaRQCcQaMU-TxhEoj2Lg

The Power of Letters

With all the technology we have now days, are we really hurting ourselves more than helping? Maybe that statements taking it too far because technology has done so much in so many people's lives but it really is sad that we have lost the idea of writing a letter. Some of the first literature written by women came in the form of letters. Hand written letters provide a sense of intimacy that is just not available in emails. Maybe this is why letter writing allowed woman an outlet to write in. It was a private way of finally writing their thoughts down on paper. Emily Dickinson was a famous writer who wrote several letters. Although, writing from one person to another is a huge difference between writing for a public and being published it was definitely a start.

http://search.rdsinc.com/texis/rds/suite2/+SewXXEefEp5wFqA68h_w+9qW6xFqnwcMwNFqnh1cc/full.html

Women IN Literature

"THE MAJOR PLAYS of Tennessee Williams--who died just 25 years ago, in 1983--feature women at their core. But for all their centrality as the emotional focal point of these plays, paradoxically enough, these women are without power in the community they inhabit. It is the men who control events; the women are entirely dependent on the men and use them to achieve their goals. In A Streetcar Named Desire, the strangers on whose kindness Blanche DuBois has "always depended" are exclusively male strangers. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda and Laura Wingfield depend on Tom for their very survival. And, in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, childless Maggie the Cat lacks any claim to the estate of her husband's family."

I have read both these plays and somewhat enjoyed them but reading this article makes me wonder what Tennessee Williams was saying and what was his point in doing so. I suppose people write about what they're living through though and the best writing comes from experience. (An even more interesting point in this article says that the woman in these plays are actually gay men in disguise. Even though I'm not sure where this comes from). Maybe men are criticized for how they wrote about woman in this time but it was simply their experience. This writing though may have just continued a bad trend and but there many men that have written about woman in much more derogatory ways, definitely look for that in future posts.

http://search.rdsinc.com/texis/rds/suite2/++ewX1FeHEp5wFqA68h_8q8n6wxFqnwcMwNFqnh1cc/full.html

Marriage or Old Maid?

M]arried life is the destiny Heaven has allotted to us, and therefore best fitted to awaken all our powers, to exercise all our virtues, and call forth all our sympathies. (19)

Catharine Maria Sedgwick, "Old Maids" (1834)

As slaves must be trained for freedom, so women must be educated for usefulness, independence, and contentment in single life ... as a mode of life in which one may serve God and humanity, and thus educate the soul, the great purpose of this short life. So considered, single life would not long be regarded as either "helpless, joyless, or ridiculous," and that dreaded stigma, "old maid," would soon cease to be a stigma, and in the lapse of ages possibly become obsolete. (2:214)

Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Married or Single? (1857)

These two quotes come from a woman who remained single her whole life. Ironic? I would say so. Many woman writer of this time period have confused messages. People are never sure if they were trying to be sarcastic in what they wrote and were actually advocating feminism or if they were really trying to put woman in "their place". Wikipedia, although not the best of sources says, "In her later work, Married or Single, she put forth the bold idea that women should not marry if it meant they would lose their self-respect." But doesn't this sound contradicting to both the quotes from either of her books?

http://search.rdsinc.com/texis/rds/suite2/+cewVo1eSEp5wFqA68h_8q8n6wxFqnwcMwNFqnh1cc/full.html

Judy Blume Says it All

Judy Blume holds the prize for a contemporary author who has been banned and censored the most. Blubber, Forever, and Then Again, Maybe I Won't are three of her books that have been banned. These and others have caused several controversies at schools, libraries, and between kids and their parents. Blume has always written children's books but covers topics that have been deemed controversial such as puberty, menstruation, and sex. Again it's these topics that women have been trying to write about for years, because it is very much part of our lives, and have been strongly criticized for. It happens all over to world, to authors in different countries, but may be more common in the United States. What is it that makes the world so ashamed or afraid of sexuality?
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/archive/features/98/05/21/JUDY_BLUME.html

Freedom of Speech...or Not?

Many people hold the freedom of speech as one of the most important freedoms yet despite this fact many works are still censored or banned. Although both men and women have much of their work banned or censored, since I am focusing on the study of women I have only provided examples of women:
Censored Women Authors
More importantly though then the disappointing fact that these authors were censored though is to ask why they were censored. Was it because of the subject matter? Was it because they were women? Or was it because they were women covering a certain subject matter? The following website attempts to describe some of the reasons why women may have been censored. Many of the reasons they list are reasons that a man would not be censored for.
http://www.wworld.org/publications/powerword1/7cases.htm

Another post about pen names...

I guess it's just one of those things I'm very curious about. Although we are still on the subject of women with pseudonyms, this one is much more recent and from quite a different angle.
Many of you may have heard of "Girl with a one-track mind" but in case you haven't, "Girl with a one-track mind" is a blog (on this very site as a matter of fact) written by Abby Lee. Her blog won the "Best British or Irish Blog" in 2006 and 2007. For the longest time though, Abby Lee wrote under the name Zoe Margolis which is not surprising in any way because the blog goes deep into many of her sexual experiences. When her true identity was revealed Lee was traumatized and had to go into hiding for sometime. Many criticized what she was writing about because it was very explicitly sexual. Would it be different if she was a man? Women have often felt certain areas of writing off limits to them and sexuality is definitely one of these but could a man really write the same things without being criticized?

Focusing on A.M. Barnard...or should I say Louisa May Alcott

One of the most famous authors of the nineteenth century wrote under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard. This author, now known as Louisa May Alcott, wrote many novels but probably the the novel Little Women is the most well known. This book which I'm sure the majority of you have heard of tells the story of four girls and their family. Jo, one of the girls in the family is very independent and wants to find success in writing but her plans change when she gets married. This ending makes me wonder if Alcott wrote this ending to show how wrong it was for a woman to give up her dreams because she was getting married, or if she ended it like this because she felt that ending it any other way would be too controversial?
Alcott discussed many topics that would be thought controversial at the time though. She covered issues of divorce, the main character was usually a heroine not hero, and female independence. So was Alcott truly a feminist or was she just writing good stories?
http://www.enotes.com/feminism-literature/alcott-louisa-may

A well known woman who more recently wrote under a pseudonym is J.K. Rowling. Instead of using her actual name Joanne she went with her initials that purposefully made her gender ambiguous. Was this so that guys would still want to read her book? Or were there other reasons for her use of initials?
For whatever reason, it shows us that woman even today still take pseudonyms.

I guess I'm not the only one intrigued by pseudonyms...
http://nuggetoftruth.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/on-pseudonyms/