Gang!

We usher in a new era in our little group, with the first official knowledge-share! Okay, so we're always sharing what we know when we get together but we thought it was a really cool idea to let our members take the floor with some of their expertise. Kenneth is going to start us off by giving a little talk and hosting this discussion on Genesis!

Ken audited a course that covered Creation, Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden and the Fall and how it's been a major influence over the centuries on women in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and well, it was really interesting and he's gonna give us the goods and then we'll all have at it! We'll probably get into how it's been interpreted by many sources over many centuries and the ever-popular Lillith, Adam's Ex, too.

It ain't a Bible study, folks, but there is a little homework that'll get you prepped to dig in. Check out Genesis 1: 1-3. It shouldn't take you long, I think.

This is one of the great things about having a group like this. We've all got something we can teach everybody else and we're looking forward to hearing from more of you who'd like to magically transfer things from your brain to ours. Just drop me a line if you've got an idea!

Where are all the feminists??? I know you're out there! It would be great to finally meet all of you. How about at this event?

Here's the plot summary:

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN (Dilip Mehta, India/Canada). 90 minutes. Subtitled. Rating: NNNN
By Susan G. Cole

Dilip Mehta 's directorial debut spins off Deepa Mehta's feature film Water, set in 1938, to catch up with widows in contemporary India.

The result is a potent account of what is basically a disposable population. There are 45 million widows in India, most of them thrown out of their homes because it's believed they'll jinx the family.

It's not a total bummer. Canadian expat and widow Ginny Shrivastava, who works to promote women's economic independence, and Mohini Giri, who operates a shelter for widows, provide some inspiration.

Mehta has the director-of-photography credit on Water, which explains why The Forgotten Woman, which he directed and shot, is so stunningly beautiful.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=162608

Remember Betty and Wilma's rallying cry? CHARGE IT!!!!

Women and shopping have been linked together since way back.

Now, I found this on the internet (written by Katharine Viner for the Guardian):

Destiny's Child's 2000 chart song Independent Women might sound like kick-ass liberation ("The shoes on my feet, I've bought it/ The clothes I'm wearing, I bought it/ The house I live in, I bought it/ The car I'm driving, I bought it"), but really, it's women's lib by credit card. Shopping itself has been fetishised into women's greatest pleasure, and the most empowering thing you can do for yourself is to go to a beauty therapist. A woman recently quoted in a television report about New York nail bars said, "New Yorkers have more respect for themselves than women in London: they spend time making sure they have their nails right and so on." She had been sold the story that manicures were not about dodgy cuticles, but self-respect. As L'Oreal would say, it's "because you're worth it". I must respect myself; after all, I wash my hair with Fructis.

To be honest, though, lots of us really do love it. We have to assume then, that we're getting something important from it, right?

So where does this stereotype or social construction come from? Does it apply differently to different categories of women? How do we feel about this? What are we buying, and what does it say about us? What do we get out of it? Do women use shopping to cope with or subvert the patriarchy? Can this association be exploited for good?

Discuss!

Where are all the feminists??? I know you're out there! It would be great to finally meet all of you. How about at this event?

Here's the plot summary:

Kelly and Evelyn Ryan live in Defiance, Ohio with their 10 children. At first glance their life seems idyllic; they call each other "Mother" and "Father" and seem to dote on the kids. But Kelly was a garage-band crooner whose voice was ruined in an auto accident. He's resigned to a dead-end factory job that barely pays the bills, and is given to fits of alcohol-induced rage. Evelyn, a stay-at-home wife and mother, deals with this abuse by appealing to her priest, who is no help at all. She deals with their poverty by entering the jingle contests that were the rage in the 50's and early 60's, even sending in multiple entries in the names of the children. She is very clever at it, winning more than her share of prizes, but her successes aren't enough to keep the wolf from the door. Further, they trigger Kelly's insecurities and he retreats deeper into the bottle, using food and mortgage money to support the habit. Can the loving, optimistic Evelyn hold the family together? Is she justified in placing her faith in the deeply-flawed Kelly? How will the children turn out? This underrated film provides an inspirational answer to these questions. Written by Joe Jurca
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0406158/

Here's what we'll do AFTER the movie:

We'll all head out to a local pub, get comfortable, have a drink...or two ;-), and chat about the movie.

So what are you waiting for??? Select 'Yes' and let's see a movie together!

The Ryerson Student Lecture Series is proud to present a performance by the world renowned group of women artists, The Guerrilla Girls. In the tradition of anonymous do-gooders, The Guerrilla Girls are feminist masked avengers who use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose sexism, racism and corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture. They will talk about their work concerning their philosophy of activism, and their campaign against the lack of ethics in the art world.

The Guerrilla Girls have appeared at over 90 universities and museums, in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker and Artforum; on NPR, the BBC and CBC; and in a number of art and feminist texts. They are authors of stickers, billboards, many posters and other projects (including a large-scale installation for the 2005 Venice Biennale,) and several books including The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art and the Guerrilla Girls' Art Museum Activity Book.

Info from Ryerson on the event
http://www.ryerson.ca/fcad/showcase/guerrilla.html

Guerrilla Girls website
www.guerrillagirls.com