Gyn/Ecology ~ by Mary Daly

Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism ~ by Mary Daly, 1978, 1990, women's studies

Daly argues that men throughout history have sought to oppress women.  In this book she moves beyond her previous thoughts on the history of patriarchy to the focus on the actual practices that, in her view, perpetuate patriarchy, which she calls a religion.  Daly's "New Intergalactic Introduction" to this edition explores her process of writing Gyn/Ecology, "this Thunderbolt of Rage" that she hurled against the patriarchs in 1978 and again in the re-surging movement of radical feminism in the 1990s.

I read Daly's Beyond God the Father in the 1970s, but I don't think I ever got around to reading this book.  It looks intriguing, so I bought it for my Kindle today.  Read more about the author in this short piece:  Feminist Theologian Mary Daly Remembered.  (After posting, I finished reading the article and apologize for posting something about Mary Daly that concludes with the opinion of a MAN who disapproves of her and says she'll be "only a footnote."  Good grief!)

Beginning ~ with the first family

Jesus Wants to Save Christians: Learning to Read a Dangerous Book ~ by Rob Bell and Don Golden, 2008

The first family was dysfunctional.  At least, that's the picture painted by the storyteller in the book of Genesis.

Nothing surprising here.  This is nonfiction about how to read the Bible, not a novel where we wonder what's about to happen.  I'm interested enough that I paid more for the Kindle edition of this revised book today than I would have paid for the hardback.  Here's what it's about:

This book calls upon the church to break from its cultural captivity and challenge the assumptions of the American Empire.  Anyone who has ever questioned their faith or is looking for answers they cannot find in their own church’s standard teachings will discover a new creed in Bell and Golden’s provocative and spiritually enlightening work.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Linky.

Food for thought

My source was Analytical Grammar on Facebook.  Comments added more food-related idioms that could have been put into that fridge:

• good gravy
• two peas in a pod
• humble pie
• chopped liver
• big cheese
• apple of her eye
• in a pickle
• bun in the oven
• cup of tea
• sour grapes
• cutie pie
• cool beans
• cold turkey
• bad eggs
• whole hog
• food for thought
• a grain of salt
• salt of the earth

What else could we add to this list, wordsmiths?

Beginning ~ with celebrity chefs

Who Cooked the Last Supper? : The Women's History of the World ~ by Rosalind Miles, 1986, 2001, history

Who cooked the Last Supper?  If it had been a man, wouldn't he have a saint's day by now, with a fervent following of celebrity chefs?  Questions like this got me into trouble from my earliest schooldays, when it seemed that all history, like everything else in the world, belonged to men.

I bought this for my Kindle quite some time ago, but until I started looking to see if I'd mentioned it here on my blog, I didn't realize I once had the ORIGINAL version in hand, back in 2014:  The Women's History of the World.  Did I buy it?  Did I borrow it from the library?  Did I read it?  It isn't on my shelf with other books on women's issues, but I moved a couple of months after I posted about the book in late March, so it could still be in a box somewhere, if I own it.  My guess is, though, that I borrowed it from the library.  Wow!  So now I get to read it on my Kindle in all its original glory!  The author says it has now been published the way she wrote it, humor and all, because "the subject is far too serious not to joke about" (loc. 103).

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Linky.

Words that begin with DW

Is it true that only three words in the English language begin with DW?  I asked about words beginning with DW at dinner last week, and Sandy (sitting next to me) quickly came up with one.  Before I tell you what I've learned, I'm curious if any of you can name a DW word.

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I looked for DW words in my 1991 Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and found the first three words here (with their variations).

Dwarf ~ the word my friend Sandy came up with.
Dwell ~ cliff dwellings (don't dwell on it too long).
Dwindle ~ the days dwindle down to a precious few.
Dweeb ~ how is this different from a dork or geek or nerd?

According to Wiktionary, "dweeb" is college slang from 1968.  Dork and dweeb are both missing from my 1991 dictionary, while "geek" comes from geck (fool) and is...

"a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake."

What?!?!?  My, how that word has changed since 1991.  What got me thinking about DW words in the first place?  I was having lunch at our Circle@Crown Café with a new friend whose name starts with DW, and she mentioned the scarcity of words beginning with DW.  I thought of a man's name that qualified.  Remember Ike?  He was otherwise known as Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States.

One hundred years ago today

My dad was born on October 9, 1918.  That's one hundred years ago today.  This photo was probably taken in 1945 or late 1944, when he was drafted because of World War Two, even though he already had two children (me and my brother Billy) and my sister Ann was born three months after he left.  He served in the Philippines and in Japan.  No, really, he SERVED.  What he served was food.  The Army made him a cook because he owned a grocery store, which means food, which equated with being a cook in someone's mind.  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Compassion, empathy, kindness, and charisma

The Compassionate Life: Walking the Path of Kindness ~ by Marc Ian Barauch, 2009

"A compassionate life is more fulfilling.  It's only when the ego bows out that the curtain rises on real life.  That it's more blessed to give than to receive is not some moral nostrum, they say, but a prescription for authentic joy" (loc. 130).

Empathy: Why It Matters, and How to Get It ~ by Roman Krznaric, 2014

"First, let's get the meaning clear:  empathy is the art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives, and using that understanding to guide your actions" (loc. 56).

The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism ~ by Olivia Fox Cabane, 2012

"People really do love to hear themselves talk.  The more you let them speak, the more they will like you"" (p. 130).

The Power of Kindness: The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life ~ by Piero Ferrucci, 2016

"Cooperation is intrinsically rewarding.  Giving a gift will make the brain happy just as much as receiving it" (loc. 193).

Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective ~ edited by Michael Schut, 1999

"Discerning how much is enough is made particularly difficult in our culture, which teaches that security lies in 'having more than I have now'" (p. 26).

These five books are (currently) together on my Kindle, making me notice the primary words of their title.  Do you have compassion, empathy, and/or charisma?  Do you want them?  What do they mean?  How are they related, if at all?  Notice that three of the five deal with compassion in one way or another and two deal with kindness.  Are compassion and kindness the same thing?