In the Merry Merry Month of May I have always loved the month May. In the area of the U.S. in which I grew up May was filled with blossoms. Probably due to being a May baby, the lilac blossoms, peony blossoms, trillium, lily of the valley, hepatica, and so many more seemed like they heralded […]
Iconic X: Oryx and Crake & the X Chromosome Meet Madame X
Writing a themed-post on the letter X is a task with limited options. Fewer words begin with the letter X in the English language than any other letter. Even with the inclusion of Ex words we have an exceptionally small number of words with which to work. My theme for this A to Z challenge […]
Iconic V: Women Are Not Weaker Vessels
I knew from the first thought of doing the challenge this year that I wanted to do the word vessel for the letter V. Women being thought of as vessels is a problematic, but common concept. I suspect it is one of the most harmful iconic visualizations of women in the world. I do not […]
Iconic U: Umiaq, Ursula, and Ubiquity
I had the best of plans for the letter U. I had decided early on that the perfect word for the letter U in this years’s challenge was the word Umiaq, which would give me opportunity to talk about gendered toolkits and tools, not pink hand drills, but real distinct tools that are women’s boats […]
Iconic T: Titles
This morning I began thinking about hereditary titles when the British Royal family grew by one. I heard more than one talking head saying that it was so 21st Century for the line of succession to have been changed so that daughters of Kings and male heirs would inherit ahead of sons born after them. […]
Iconic S: The Sabine Women
This story that is told about Rome’s founding, formulation, and populating, and has bothered me for a long time. The story is usually called The Rape of the Sabine Women. Current attempts to make the story title less horrific has it being called The Abduction of the Sabine Women. It seems that every painter from the […]