What I'm into (May 2013)

This month has been brutal and beautiful.  It has been a painful exercise in allowing celebration and mourning to occupy the same space.  It has been filled with jubilant celebration and the aching sting of longing for those who are not here to join in the festivities.  

But in this month that heralds the arrival of Summer, here's what I'm into:

I'm into dressing up in gowns and hoods to accept ridiculously expensive pieces of paper! (YAY!!)

This month my music choices can be summarized into one word : Gatsby.  The Great Gatsby soundtrack is phenomenal.  Seriously.  I cannot over sell it. 

Here's what I've been reading:

Breaking Shame: Why Purity Culture Works -Jonalyn Grace Fincher 

"Purity is one of the only places Christians treat sin as un-degreed." 

If Women Ran Half the World -Brandy Walker 
(I freaking love this woman.  She is my kind of people.)
"Men could take the world off of their shoulders. No one would get made fun of for bringing home the bacon. Or going vegan. We’d all sleep more. And the benefits of true partnership. We’d finally find the cure for cancer. Science and math wouldn’t be “boys’ subjects”. Nor would humor. Being lady-like would mean becoming a doctor or a mom or a CEO or just plain awesome."

Too Girly to Lead? - Laura Ortberg Turner  

"Paul concludes his letter to the Romans by commending a number of people to the church at Rome, including Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Junia, and 'Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.' Paul wasn't thanking them for their delicious potato salad at the church potluck"

Feminism Needs Men, Too - Lauren Rankin 

"Ending the patriarchal oppression for women is good for men, too. Patriarchy doesn’t just privilege men over women, but privileges certain kinds of men and certain kinds of masculinity"

Facebook Says it Failed to Bar Posts with Hate Speech -Tanzina Vega, New York Times

Facebook has a bit of a rape problem.  This month, after some excellent activism from women's rights groups, and several business pulling their ads from the site, Facebook finally admitted that they had dropped the ball when it came to addressing misogynous content on their site.  

Don't Act Like Men - Nathan Colquhoun

In case you were unaware, Mark Driscoll and some other men are holding an "Act Like Men" conference. One of the host cities is the lovely town of Hamilton, Ontario.  The fine folks of Hamilton have responded fantastically.  They'll be hosting a "Don't Act Like Men" conference at the same time as Driscoll's.  (I'll give you one guess as to which event I suggest you register for.)

Change the Story - Shauna Niequist

"This old story isn’t helping me anymore, so I’m writing a new story...It says I might have more to contribute than I thought..."

Creative Theology -Sam Mahlstadt

I've actually made significant progress through my stack of unread books this month.  This one in particular stood out. Love, love, love this book.  It's beautiful.  And extraordinary.  And I can't stop talking about it.   All proceeds from book sales are currently going to tornado relief.

In other book news, I've finally gotten around to starting The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti...it is proving to be just as amazing and thought provoking as I anticipated. 


And I leave you this, because we all need some poetry in our lives: 

 Thanks -W.S. Merwin


I'm linking up with Leigh Kramer for What I'm into May Edition.  What have you been into this month?

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