More Twilight writing

In honor of the release of the "New Moon" film, the latest writing and quotes on the Twilight Saga.

New Article:

• A Feminist's Guide To Curing Yourself of Twilight-Mania | RHRealityCheck.org http://bit.ly/66DKy7

Old article reprinted:

• Twilight and New Moon: sexual longing in a world of vampire abstinence | Christian Science Monitor http://bit.ly/43JE8G
• Don't look to 'Twilight' series for strong female role models -- Baltimore Sun- http://shar.es/aEiNU

Quoted in the Washington Post:

• Women living in 'Twilight' will not apologize for loving Edward, Bella and Jacob - washingtonpost.com http://bit.ly/1MVQxK

Front Page of Alternet: Krakauer Review

Story on the front page of alternet 9/17/09

Inside Pat Tillman's Life, and the Bush Administration's Cover-Up of His Death

By Sarah Seltzer, AlterNet

World: Journalist Jon Krakauer's striking new book on the story of the events surrounding Pat Tillman's death in Afghanistan covers the emotional depths of war and government cover-up.

Literary Articles, Summer '09

A group of literary-themed pieces appearing this summer, including a first-time publication in The Daily Beast. Sarah's review of Wetlands by Charlotte Roche is also in the summer 2009 issue of Venus Zine. Text forthcoming.

The Cape's Tragic Characters

If the California coast is where characters reinvent themselves, the New England shore is where things fall apart. Richard Russo extends the tradition with That Old Cape Magic. The central question of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo's new book.

from The Daily Beast - Blogs and Stories

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Sisters of fate - InTheFray Magazine

Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls tells the piercingly painful tale of two sisters’ odyssey from Shanghai to San Francisco.

from inthefray.org

Small Town, Big Stakes: PW talks with Nancy Mauro - 7/13/2009 - Publishers Weekly

In Mauro's debut, New World Monkeys (Reviews, June 15), struggling young marrieds Duncan and Lily spend a summer in upstate New York contending with a dead wild boar and the human bones in their backyard.
via www.publishersweekly.com on 7/13/09

COVER STORY: Women's Writing Fires Up Summer Reading Lists

This year's literary output by women offers plenty of heft for the summer tote bags. From sensational memoirs to serious sociology, check out what women are writing about and the prizes they've been snapping up so far in 2009.

via Women's eNews by Sarah Seltzer on 6/13/09

Abortion, morality, and extremism

In the wake of the Notre Dame scandal and the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a few high-profile stories as well as a quotation in the Canadian Press (Canada's wire service):

Scarborough Country: Where Anti-Choice Extremism Is Swept Under the Rug Women's Media Center, June 4 2009 reprinted at MotherJones.com and Alternet

Where Does Anti-Choice Extremism Come From? RH Reality Check 6/19/09

Six Ways the Internet Has Influenced the Discourse On Dr. Tillers' Murder RH Reality Check 6/409 referenced In Salon.com's Broadsheet blog

On the Question of Choice, Where Does the President Stand? RH Reality Check 6/1/09

Spring 2009 Highlights

From Sarah's Newsletter

Literary Reporting:
. . . . .

U.S. Writers Get Canon to Call Their Own Female U.S. writers get historic treatment by Elaine Showalter.
Oliver Twist 2/11/09 A review and analysis of PBS' new Dickens adaptation.

The Woman Question Kate Walbert's A Short History of Women follows several generations of women from the British suffrage movement on down.

Death and 'Dirty Dancing' Emily Chenoweth's Hello Goodbye interweaves the story of a daughter's sexual awakening with her mother's terminal illness.

Feminist Stories:
. . . . .

Scarborough Country: Where Anti-Choice Extremism Is Swept Under the Rug (June 4) The rarely-discussed anti-choice ties of the morning news anchor

On the Question of Choice, Where Does the President Stand? (June 1) Does Obama need to take a stronger position on abortion?
The Empathy Code: Judging, Judgment, and the Next Supreme Court Justice (May 15th) Breaking down the language of right-wing critics
As Thunder Is Not Yet Rain, In Ethiopia, Legal Rights to Abortion Are Not Yet Access (May 4) A new film looks at abortion in Ethiopia, newly-legalized.

Levi Johnston: Victim in the Spotlight? (April 7) As amusing as the Sarah Palin family circus may seem to gleeful liberals, there is something sad about it too.

On "Friday Night Lights," the TV Sex Talk Done Right (March 27) This week’s Friday Night Lights was the rare prime-time drama to feature an explicit, appropriate sex talk between a parent and child.

The Media on Rihanna: Love Doesn’t Hurt, But Abuse Is Complicated The media has gotten better about covering abuse, but it's not good enough.

Education Stories:

. . . . .

At Private Schools, Little Financial Impact How private schools are weathering the financial crisis
THE NEW FACES OF BRANDEIS HIGH SCHOOL The long-troubled West Side school will break up and welcome three new tenants.

LITTLE EINSTEINS : A New School for Gifted Kids

Cover story for local papers The West Side Spirit and Our Town NY about a new school for "developmentally precocious" children.

A taste:

Most kindergarteners are full of enthusiasm about animals, tall tales, toys and their favorite picture book character. But next fall, a new school will be catering to a different sort of student: kids under the age of 7 who can tell you about the finer points of shifting tectonic plates, global warming and characters from “grown-up books.”

When the Speyer Legacy School opens its doors, it will serve a different kind of special needs population: the developmentally precocious. These are children with exceptionally high IQs who master verbal, reading and math skills early and exhibit an intense passion for intellectual, sometimes arcane, pursuits—whether it’s maps, mythology, music or nature. Estimated to be less than one percent of the population, these children don’t just want to learn but want to master every aspect of their particular interest.

Jane Eyre, Rebecca + Feminism Article in Bitch

"It's Jane's House, We Just Live In It," a piece about the legacy of Jane Eyre as a feminist gothic novel, is in the new issue of Bitch ("The Noir Issue") on newsstands now. Piece will go up on the site after the holidays. One blogger has already picked it up.

Happy solstice!

UPDATE 1/09: And here's the full text.

Twilight Twittering, Round 2

A piece about the literary/cultural history of vampires as symbols of socio-sexual anxieties @RHRC.

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With immortality, a killer instinct, and a life on the fringes, Vampires are a perfect conduit for musings on the human condition. "Vampires have long served to remind us of the parts of our own psyches that seduce us," writes Salon's Laura Miller (in a superb analysis of the Twilight books). But the metaphor is often less existential than that, as the vampire bite is easy shorthand for sex. Vampirism allows consumers to take vicarious pleasure in rule-breaking couplings, while also justifying phobias about sex-because the seducers do have lethal fangs, and their condition is quite contagious.

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It was reprinted at Huffpo + Alternet, where it generated a good deal of discussion and picked up around the blogosphere.

School Rezoning stories in West Side Spirit

A series of news stories and a feature on a controversial school rezoning plan on the Upper West Side.

REZONING OK'D
via westsidespirit.com on 11/26/08
District 3’s Community Education Council has given the final go-ahead to the rezoning plan that has roiled the community. The Department of Education says the vote was essentially the last stroke to put the plan into execution for the 2009-10 school year.

SCHOOL MOVE OK’D :

via westsidespirit.com on 11/21/08

District 3’s Community Education Council voted in favor of a fiercely contended rezoning and relocation proposal to alleviate overcrowding at a local elementary school.


CEC BACKS SCHOOL MOVE

via westsidespirit.com on 11/13/08
The CEC passed the rezoning/move in an initial proposal despite fierce protest.

GROWING RIFT OVER P.S. 199 CROWDING PROPOSALS

via westsidespirit.com on 10/30/08

The Department of Education’s preliminary proposals for tackling overcrowding in District 3 have led to escalating tension between parents at P.S. 199 and The Center School, whose children share a building on West 70th Street.

TEPID RECEPTION TO REZONING PROPOSALS : West Side Spirit

via westsidespirit.com on 10/9/08

District 3’s Community Education Council characterized proposals for redrawn catchment zones mere “band-aid” solutions to school overcrowding.

Politics, Round 2

A final group of Sarah's articles @ RHRC leading up to the election...

Biden's Legacy Tied to International VAWA

The Obama Campaign has trumpeted Sen. Joe Biden's work as sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act. But many people may not know that Biden is again working for women worldwide on the International Violence Against Women Act.

. . . . .

Ad-Drop Period: Reproductive Health Jingles Sweep the Airwaves

Across the country, political ads have alleged that Palin forces rape victims to pay for their rape kits, that Obama supports infanticide, that McCain will constitutionally ban abortion. Which of these claims are true?

. . . . .

What Do Women Want from the Next President?

Last week, we published a list of questions that might be asked at a "women's issues" debate. The Center for New Words has been putting this idea in action, hosting their own women's speakouts.

. . . . .

Let's Talk About Sex, Baby: The Candidates on Sex Ed, In Their Own Words

Comprehensive sex ed has become one of the most winnable reproductive health issues, for Democrats and pro-choice Republicans alike. Where do the candidates stand on sexuality education?

. . . . .

What Would a Women's Issues Debate Look Like?

Grab your popcorn and get ready to bang your head against the wall -- debate season is in full swing. RH Reality Check envisions the questions we wish the candidates would face before an audience of millions.

. . . . .

Politics and Palin

(Sarah's piece on the front page of Huffpo, top left hand corner)

With the presidential race heating up, Sarah's been busy writing about politics. Here are some pieces:

• Between a Rock Star and a Hard Place: on gender roles in campaign ads.

• First Lady Hurdles, on the difficult dance candidates wives must do in public.

• A Feminist Appalled by Palin: a reaction to McCain's VP choice that made the front page of Digg and got lots of attention in the blogosphere.

• OMFG: The RNC and Gossip Girl--on teen soaps and abstinence-only education--> reprinted in Alternet.

• "Sarah Palin Feminism? More like Sarah Palin Sexism" at RHRC, reprinted on Huffpo and Alternet.

Twilight Twittering

Sarah's RH Reality Check post on the Twilight novels reprinted at Huffington Post, discussed at Pandagon and at Sarah's blog.

Austen Boom Keeps 'Janeite' Scholars Jumping

Article on "Janeites" up in womensenews today.

Sarah's RH reality Check column on HBO's "In Treatment" was reprinted in the Huffington Post.

Horton Hears a Wingnut

Piece on anti-choice demonstrators hijacking Dr. Suess gets picked up on alternet.

Hard Times

Sarah's feature for Bitch Magazine about the New York Times Book Review and feminist authors is up online and on newsstands.

The Opposite of Choice

Sarah's first article at rhrealitycheck.org.

The Girl Geek Stands Alone

In this quarter's issue of Bitch, number 38 (Lost and Found), Sarah wrote the "on film" piece abut girl geeks in film and on television. The issue is on newsstands, at Borders, and Barnes and Noble, or you can order it at bitchmagazine.com.

The Literary Light Fantastic

A year-end piece on women's literary contributions at Womens eNews.

Women and Poverty

Sarah has a piece up at womens eNews about October 17th, which is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and the importance of gender equality to antipoverty efforts.

The Meritocracy Hypocrisy

A new blog post about education inequality up at HuffPo.