Blogger Jessica Valenti asks: ‘Feminism: Alive and Well?’
She comments in her blog March 2 about how incredible feminist campus organizers are today. “All of this nonsense about young women not calling themselves feminists, or young people being socially unengaged and politically apathetic is bull.”
That’s the sort of candid, in-your-face commentary you can expect to hear from Valenti when she visits TTU at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23, for a speech in the Derryberry Hall Auditorium entitled “Feminism: Alive and Well?” A Center Stage event, Valenti’s presentation is free and open to the public.
Valenti’s visit to TTU is just one of a series of events on campus during National Women’s History Month. Her visit is being sponsored by the TTU Women’s Center in collaboration with Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
“Her books are accessible and we felt that students could relate to what she has to say,” said Gretta Stanger, director of the Women’s Center. “While acknowledging the negativity that seems to surround current notions of feminism, Valenti challenges us to rethink some of our ideas about the women’s rights movement and move forward.”
Valenti is the founder and editor of Feministing.com, a popular blog and online community covering issues of interest to young women. Valenti describes her blog this way: “Feministing draws attention to issues that are under-covered in mainstream media, analyzes pop culture, media, and advertising through a feminist lens, pushes elected officials and media gatekeepers to be more accountable, highlights and amplifies social justice activism (of the feminist and many other varieties), and disproves the stereotype of ‘humorless feminists’ on a daily basis.”
She is also the author of three books: Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters; He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut…and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know; and The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. She is editor of the anthology Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape, which was named one of Publishers Weekly’s Top 100 Books of 2009 and won a 2010 Amelia Bloomer award.
“While I haven’t read all of her books, I enjoyed He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut. Valenti’s focus on pointing out sexism and then trying to empower us instead of making us feel worse is something I try to do every day and, believe me, it’s not easy.” Diana Lalani of the Women’s Center. “This is a Center Stage event and as such is meant to provide a strong cultural perspective – in this case about gender. Valenti is a strong woman with strong opinions. I don’t have to agree with every one of them or how they are framed to find her interesting and worth listening to.”
Valenti received her master's degree in women’s and gender studies from Rutgers University, where she is now a part-time lecturer. She speaks at universities and organizations across the country on feminism, blogging and politics. Valenti lives in Sunnyside, Queens, with her husband.
Visit the Women's Center web site or call 931-372-3850 for more information on this event.
