Embrace Women's History Month! Awesome, Inspirational Feminist Texts to Challenge You

Carrier Bags and Feminist Citation Theory

 

As it's Women's History Month, we're sharing a couple of academic related feminist texts  that one of our library colleagues has found really influential in his academic pursuits.

 

Ursula K Le Guin: Image from Wikipedia

First comes Ursual K Le Guin’s The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction

Are you tired of the same old stories - Western, patriarchal hero-quests, which start at the beginning and work towards a nice, tidy conclusion? Science fiction writer and feminist academic Ursula K. Le Guin will address your frustrations.

This essay proposes an alternative way of telling stories and experiencing the world -  a cyclical, heterogeneous approach. This alternative works to subvert a male-centric, linear mode which takes its cue from the violent, goal-driven philosophy of a predatory hunter (no thanks!). The carrier bag theory shows us how we might create from a feminist point of view which values collecting different experiences and stories, moving backwards and forwards in time, and not necessarily shooting the bear with the arrow. Whether you are writing music, directing a film, or planning your next performance, this essay might change your whole perspective!



Sarah Ahmed - image from TheOtherMcCain.com

And here is Making Feminist Points, by Sara Ahmed, dealing with feminist citation theory. 

In Making Feminist Points, Sara Ahmed reflects on her own experiences in order to critique the prevalence of male writers in academic citation and the bias towards male theorists in academia. Her website features a variety of thought-provoking posts on feminist issues in academic institutions, including a striking analysis of the use of ‘diversity’ as a smokescreen to distract from institutional racism.