Friday Femmes Fatales No 66 (Women Bloggers)

Ten great posts from ten new (to me) women bloggers.

And I'm aiming to be celebratory this week: first up a brilliant idea and a brilliant blog. I've often thought of how unhealthy the changing rooms of my all-girl school were — everyone used to engage in astonishing contortions to avoid showing one inch of skin while removing and replacing clothing, which meant no one ever really got a sense of the variety of shapes and sizes of their compatriots' bodies, relying instead on those airbrushed magazine ideals.

And how much worse it is for women after giving birth? But on The Shape of A Mother women are invited to send in their stories and pictures of their post-natal bodies. I've pointed to the whole blog; it seemed unfair to single out any particular post.

Then, on Skanky Jane's Ruses of Pleasure, the artist reports on her first solo exhibition. To explain:

"...In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs..."

Well okay, perhaps that doesn't explain very much — you'll just have to go to see for yourself.

Staying with the artistic theme, Lauren on She Sees Red raves about a new multi-artist show in Melbourne. I loved the escalator.

Turning the celebration to the culinary, J in Singapore on Kuidaore explains how to cook the perfect gyoza (Japanese dumpling). I love, love gyoza, although I'd prefer someone to do all those fiddly steps for me...

Then for dessert, Kathy on My Little Kitchen takes us step by step through a ginger peach cake. Hey, it contains fruit; got to be healthy, right?

Okay, to leaven the mix, a little politics — Jessa on Zombie was at a university tutorial discussing George Bush's public speaking "skills". Then the fireworks started.

And a bit of anthropology — on Baraita, Naomi muses on the Jewish communities in the South of the United States.

Jenny on The Shifted Librarian offers a roundup of blog posts on culture change in libraries. Is it possible?

Finally, a celebration of nature. On Just Shelley there are pictures of butterflies, herons, lizards, and more.

Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier. Or don’t be shy — nominate yourself!

Article Author: Natalie Bennett

Natalie blogs at Philobiblon, on books, history and all things feminist. In her public life she's the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.

Visit Natalie Bennett's author page — Natalie Bennett's Blog