Gilmore Girls and all that

We reached the end of our Gilmore Girls marathon yesterday and it felt kind of sad. 153 episodes, many many hours of watching, often late into the evening, with far too much tea being drunk (on my part) and far too much time spent on Happy Aquarium (by the girls). It is one of those stories where you can really allow yourself to get attached to the characters and it has been a source of much heated debate over the last two weeks. The whole Dean/Jess/Logan problem is unlikely ever to be resolved.

Anyway I have realised that I am way behind on my '52 books in 52 weeks' reading challenge, I may have to resort to something very brief over Christmas to make up the numbers. So, ignoring that, or rather alongside that, I came across another challenge on the Women Unbound blog which I decided to participate in. I have added one of their nice buttons to my sidebar.

The basic idea is to read books by or about women, but with a feminist slant, so not just any old book by a woman. With this in mind I have made a tentative selection:

• Pedals and Petticoats by Mary Elsy. I am currently reading this. I bought it from the library and although written more recently it is the story (biographical I am assuming) of a group of girls cycling around Europe in the post-war period.
• Spinsters Abroad by Dea Birkett. Also bought in the library and is about Victorian lady explorers, taken from writings and diaries of women travelling as women alone.
• The Whole Woman by Germaine Greer. Feminist tome. This has been on the list as 'currently reading' for some time now, so this is an excuse to get it back out and read the rest.
• Rape by Joyce Carol Oates. Bought in a charity shop on the spur of the moment as I had read some of her short stories. Subtitled, A love story.
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. This has been on my 'to read' list for many a year, since my mum recommended it when she read it, I think I may have been in sixth form. It is the story of the mad woman in the attic, Mrs Rochester, from Jane Eyre. It seems like a good choice for this challenge.

I may add more depending on enthusiasm or interest. the challenge includes what is called a 'meme'. Now these things seem to abound in blogland so it seems to be a compulsory part of participating in and linking to such challenges, so here goes:

1. What does feminism mean to you? Does it have to do with the work sphere? The social sphere? How you dress? How you act?

I think it is a way of looking critically at the world and society and not allowing yourself to be limited or controlled by your gender. I guess for me it has been symbolised by using the title 'Ms' which i have done consistently since the age of about 16, since historically a woman's marital status has been such a significant defining feature of her life, and this title was a means to reject such labels.

2. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?

Yes. Because entrenched attitudes take far longer than you might think to change.

3. What do you consider the biggest obstacle women face in the world today? Has that obstacle changed over time, or does it basically remain the same?

To stop the word 'feminist' having such negative connotations. And other women who think that they owe nothing to feminism or that it has nothing more to offer them. I also think women forgetting their history is an obstacle to the future. I talk to my daughters about the way life used to be for women, and how the things they take for granted were hard won.