My Turn!

Hey everyone! My name is Maggie and you can see my regular postings at From the Heart, found here: http://www.eafromtheheart.blogspot.com/.

Let's see...I'm 25 years old. I married my soul mate this past April. We live in a tiny, TINY town that barely resembles civilization, right on the banks of the Missouri River. Our pride and joy is our beagle doggie Chandler (named after Chandler Bing of the TV show "Friends".) We have one baby in heaven, our little Gus, and hope to start having more babies soon.

After high school I went to college for a theater degree. I lasted there for about a month. Then I worked for awhile and soon went back to another school for a whole semester for my education degree. I was a bit of a wild child during these years and my faith took a backseat in my life. (OK...maybe it was in the trunk...or left on the side of the road.) I am a cradle Catholic, but never got into the faith until about five years ago. The whole long, complicated story can be found on my blog!

The third time was the charm and I graduated from Benedictine College with a degree in Theology. I'm learning the hard way that this major doesn't produce a lot of job prospects! I am currently unemployed, and am hoping something comes along soon!

In regards to feminism, I've never given it much thought. I've found it complicated and messed up in today's culture. I would gravitate towards a book on apologetics, like "How to Win in Hand-to-Hand Combat with an Atheist" rather than a book on the dignity of womanhood. However, after taking a senior seminar class on the Theology of the Body I've really given the whole woman and man as one thing a second thought. That's why I am so glad to take part in this book club. I want to get other women's thoughts about this topic! I could go on and on...but that's what this book club is for!

I look forward to getting this started! :-)

I'll Go Next

I'm Kay. I've been blogging since grad school and my ramblings can currently be found at Have You Been Outside Lately?

In terms of vital statistics...

I am 30 years old, have lived in 6 states and have had at least a dozen addresses since finishing my masters degree in environmental policy in 2005. Originally from the Motor City, I moved to the Mile High City over the summer and think it's a fantastic place. I love reading, running, swimming, hiking, quilting, cooking and, of course, blogging; although I never seem to have enough hours in the day to truly engage in all of my hobbies on a regular basis.

Despite being born and raised in the Catholic Church, I spent several years attending Baptist services while in high school (they had a better youth group), Congregational services while in grad school (I was sick of the Catholic Church contunually asking for my money and telling me how to vote) and some Presbyterian services after that (I liked listening to their choir, what can I say?). In the end, I went back to Catholicism because I found comfort in it when I was living far away from my family. Even though we weren't in the same pew together on Sundays, it often felt like we were and that's still (among other things) what takes me back week after week.

Almost a year and a half ago, I married my perfect match (also a lifelong Catholic, although he had a Catholic School education, so he is far more versed on the theology than I am). We have an almost seven week old son who is the most adorable kid in the world (yes, I'm probably a bit biased...I'm sure your kids are all super cute, too =). I must admit, it's a good thing he's so cute because he sure screams a lot...all night long...never sleeps...might end up being an only child if he keeps this up, but I digress...

I'm currently on maternity leave from a job that I love, but am slightly dreading returning to because it means leaving my baby at day care for eight whole hours a day (what seems like an eternity!). And, I'm still a little curious about how exactly I'm going to function at work when I'm only getting 3-4 hours of sleep in any given 24 hour period. Again, digression...

This, I suppose, brings me to my views on feminism. I consider myself an advocate for women. I think we deserve all the same rights and opportunities as men and we should have voices and opinions that are considered and respected in all realms of dialog -- from our own homes to the world stage if that is our choice. I love and admire all of my girlfriends for all the wonderful things they have done with their lives (they are doctors, missionaries, youth pastors, zoologists, teachers, photographers, scientists, counselors, engineers, etc), but I was often shocked when my friends would give up their careers to (YIKES) become a stay-at-home Mom (?!).

"What about how hard you've worked to get that job?," I would ask. "What about all those years of college and grad scool and post-doc? Do you really think that reading Dr. Seuss and changing diapers is going to challenge your mind and satisfy your life's ambitions?"

Sigh. I just didn't get it.

Now, I think I am getting it, although it's turning me a bit topsy-turvy in the sense that what I thought feminism and equal rights and liberation were really all about have suddenly become all mixed up with my newfound appreciation for what the female body is capable of in bringing new life into this world and sustaining and nurturing it through infancy and beyond. Being a Mom is challenging and satsfying and beautiful and rewarding, too. Just in a slightly different way than education and careers. It's all been very confusing (and probably hormonal, too), but quite enlightening at the same time (by the way, I'm truly sorry if I ever insulted any of you working-girls-turned-Mommies with my former disbelief at your decisions to stay home - again, I get it now...I think).

Anyway, I'm excited about delving more into my changing view of being a woman and I thank you for allowing me to be part of this book club adventure with all of you wonderful ladies. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Oh, and I ordered my book today.

Introductions!

Since Molly paved the way so nicely, I'll go next!

I'm Sarah.
My blog is: http://fumblingtowardgrace.wordpres.com

I'm about to turn 26, and I live in Indianapolis with my husband and our shaggy black dog, Sirius. We have a baby in heaven (Michael John), and are working on having one on this earth too!

I just finished my MA in Social Justice, and am looking for work/trying to figure out what to do with my life.

I'm a cradle Catholic, went to Catholic college and grad school. I became really interested and active in my faith over the past three years or so. My husband is a convert to the Church, and we love being part of the 1 billion or so Catholics worldwide!

I was first excited to read this book after I read an essay by the author in an anthology for my thesis.

I consider myself a feminist in the strain of Mary Wallstonecraft and those who worked for women's suffrage. I am a pro-life feminist. I believe in a feminism that recognizes the fact that every human person is interdependent with every other human person, and that includes, men, other women, and children. I believe in a feminism that seeks to strengthen and make more just all human relationships, not one which seeks to "liberate" women by destroying relationships through false independence.

I'm excited to read this book because I'm eager to see how she develops her claims, and ideas for how we can make the main ideals of feminism more attractive to the average woman.

I'm also super-excited to get to chat with some wonderful, smart women through this club!

I'll Start!

Name: Molly
Website: http://justsimplymolly.wordpress.com
The Basics:

• Just about to the mid-late 20's
• Married - no kids... but we're working on it
• Methodist raised, married to a Catholic - still deciding
  
• Working woman in the theatre... it's not glamorous I just do a lot of laundry and keep tempers in check and occasionally fetch snacks... I think this actually good training for having kids.
• I have a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and a tendency to play devil's-advocate so I apologize in advance.
• Because of the books subject matter I'll go out on a limb and say - I do consider myself a basic (perhaps Traditional?) feminist in the original sense of the movement - opportunity for work, education and proper medical care; basic civil and legal rights and protection, etc., but not in the extreme "waves" of the movement. I believe that men and women were created to be, essentially, two halves of a whole; each with their own strengths and weakness, neither of which makes one better or worse than the other and that neither men or women can "have it all".
  
• I'm look forward to reading this because its not a book I would normally think to read on my own and am interested to see if I end up liking what the author says by the end, because of my views stated above it could really swing either way.
  
• But no matter what I look forward to challenging myself and having an opportunity to have good, rational conversations over the topics this books brings up.
  

Welcome!

Hello Ladies!

Sarah here. I want to welcome all of you to the page for our "Ladies Who Blog Book Club". It's a working title; if anyone has another idea for what to call ourselves, feel free to let me or Elizabeth know and we can switch it.

Also, as authors on the blog, feel free to make any changes or propose ideas for layout.

It could also be fun if each of us posted a short bio about who we are and what you're most looking forward to about the book club. This way we can all get to "know" each other before we jump on in!

Thanks again for joining the club; I hope it will be a wonderful experience for all of us!

Testing?

Hey gals,
Just checking to make sure we can all post on here!