A few days ago, I mentioned that I'll be required to read Frankenstein in that Brit. lit. class this summer. Well, I also plan on doing a little reading for fun. The following is a shortlist of my summer "pleasure-reading" choices. The selections are characteristically bizarre.
1.) Joyce, Kathryn. Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement. Boston: Beacon Press, 2009.-- This book is highly disturbing, to say the least. Author Joyce discusses the in and outs of the "Quiverfull Movement," an ultra-conservative Christian movement that requires wives to be completely subservient to their husbands and to bear "as many children as God will allow." In other words, birth control of any form is an absolute no-no. What's even more frightening is the fact that the number of Quiverfullers is increasing. According to Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and This Land Is their Land: "While mainstream America faced the possibility of a female president, a grassroots movement has been quietly organizing to restore patriarchy-- and reduce women to the status of slave-like breeders. Kathryn Joyce gives us a first-ever glimpse into the Christian patriarchy movement, and her riveting reporting makes it all the scarier. If you've been feeling complacent about women's status, read this book!" I concur, Barb!
2.) Robbins, Alexandra. Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. New York: Hyperion, 2004.-- I'm finding this book to be almost as disturbing as the previously mentioned one. Young women go off to college to ostensibly prepare themselves for adult lives, only to allow themselves to be controlled by highly paternalistic organizations known as sororities. I knew soriority, or "Greek," girls at Eastern, and trust me, that early 90's SNL skit isn't too much of an exaggeration. The New Republic (online) says,"Every parent of a college-bound daughter should read this book." Yeah, they should.
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