History vs Women

History vs Women

YA/adult herstory
"History vs Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don't Want You To
Know aims to explore the lives and accomplishments of fascinating
women across the world who defied cultural expectations and social
pressures that sought to limit their ambition and erase them from the
history books. When they were told that women should aspire to be
submissive and good, they decided instead to be defiant and great.
Their uncompromising lives and thrilling exploits are a reminder that
the stories we tell about women--in tv shows, comic books, as well as
in real life--often reflect the stereotypes and limitations that have
been created for them, rather than the world-changing feats they have
already achieved."
Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams were deeply troubled that while
the achievements of males have been obsessively recorded, those of
their equally brilliant and courageous female peers weren't considered
important. In this amazing book, through painsticking research, often
complicated by dearth of primary sources, they share the stories of
twenty-five women who lived and often died too boldly to merit
oblivian. Some of these women are:
*Lucy Hicks Anderson who lived the gender she knew herself to be in a
world that insisted on calling her a man;
*Fatima Al-Fihri, who in 859, upon inheriting a lot of money, created
a mosque that would become a world-reknowned university;
*Ching Shih who ran one of the biggest pirate fleets ever with an iron
hand;
*Murasaki Shikibi who wrote the book that is considered to be the
first modern novel,
and *director and scriptwriter Lois Weber who, in the early 20th
Century, while her peers strove not to offend, addressed topics in her
films that are still controversial in today's world.
These women were kick ass world changers. If you're a feminist
or ally you gotta read the book. Then ask yourself who you would have
added. Learn more about her. Share her story.
On a personal note, before Rachel Carson Edith Patch was warning us
about the unintended consequences of tampering with the web of life.
Her speculations on a world without insects were way ahead of her
time. She came along in a world that consigned women who weren't
desperately poor (nobody ever protects them) to stuff like tea
parties. She fought her way into entomology, a field in which most
practitioners thought women were too delicate to do stuff like chasing
grasshoppers. In addition to speaking inconvenient truths to life in
a clueless society and breaking into a field that made her feel much
less than welcome, she did two more things that really impressed me.
1) Instead of penning jargon filled treatises to impress her peers,
she wrote in regular language to educate everyday people. She believed
that the problems of the environment needed engagement from the
degreeless as well as the scientists and professors. 2) She wrote
books for children that didn't condescend. She believed they deserved
the truth as much as everyone else. She believed that their learning
should include messy, unpredictable, hands on learning instead of just
passive rote memorization.
A great big shout out goes out to all who seek out and share knowledge
about less well known sheroes.
jules hathaway


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