I have a poem on Poem Online, called “The Poetry Makers”,(http://poem.org/community/2.3.1/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1265064651) which pretty much sums up how I got to a place of making poetry.

My poetry blog is pretty static. I’ve posted about 30 poems there in the last month and will add more periodically. I don’t do any daily commentary or updates. If you’d all like to see a really cool blog (photos, poetry, art, philosophy, wisdom, love and more) by my sixty-two year old friend, Linda, in Bellingham, Washington, check out: http://ifeltit-poppiespoppy.blogspot.com/2010/02/norway-my-heart.html. She updates almost daily and always has something insightful and/or funny to say! And, I guess that’s about all the self-promotion/friend promotion I can stand for one day! Cory Raymond McAllen Texas
Report this comment

regardless, thanks for the parental advice. but honestly, i’m pretty much father-of-the-year every year. i’m well aware of my responsibilities and various personality flaws in meeting them. in addition to being a regretless visionary, i’ve mastered the art of apology.
Report this comment

As far as your own daughter goes, wait and see how she fares the first time her boss talks to her breasts or passes her up for promotion because she’s of childbearing age.

I do hope your son does not turn himself into cannon fodder, but he has plenty of other choices to make (it’s actually your job to help him make good ones, you know). Your anecdotal evidence re: your family’s situation does not bear on the overall culture, the inequities of which remain a fact.

And this is my last word to you.
Report this comment

as for link, again, basically unreadable to me. i don’t do contentious name dropping pieces, and i certainly don’t read the new york times book review, or any reviews for that matter. i pick my own. always have. you should try it some time; it’s quite liberating….
Report this comment

Here’s an article worth reading on this subject (h/t Amy King), about “postfeminist” writers dismissing feminist books in the NY Times book review:

http://bitchmagazine.org/article/hard-times

The cover of the current issue of Calyx magazine, a photograph of a circle of young girls clearly not being very nice to each other, vividly illustrates the fact that, from an early age, we can be our own worst enemies.

So progress has been made, but to imagine that it’s time to rest on our laurels, that we’re done, that my daughter will not face more obstacles than my son, is simply wrong.
Report this comment

also, i think it’s important to accept that diversity and inclusion efforts are firmly entrenched in america. from the lowest to the highest ranking positions of government, academia, and larger corporations, we won’t be reverting to our past employment and promotion models any time soon. as each generation becomes more aware of their potential and equal opportunities, they will continue to take advantage of them, and the various playing fields should continue to level out.
Report this comment

in addition to my literary interests, i am an excellent athlete and a sports nut. my son, despite having an excellent physique, is only fairly athletic–but not an athlete. my daughter is flatout a natural athlete, along with a great body. neither child, however, enjoys poetry or watching sports as much as me. my wife is beautiful and intelligent, so are my children. so yes, perhaps my attitude is lamarckian. could be worse, no?
Report this comment

um, why? if you’re going to offer that as a rebuttal, at least give a reason. otherwise it’s pretty lame, and only serves to highlight the staggering depth of your cluelessness.
Report this comment

Sass, earlier on, you wrote this:

“i do, however, believe that the american literary/publishing industry has made significant and lasting changes when it comes to presenting a more level playing field, especially when it comes to women contributors.

is my belief wrong?”

when people presented evidence that your beliefs and assumptions ARE in fact wrong, you basically said, “TLDR.” you’re refusing to question or examine your assumptions out of laziness. so claiming that your “assumptions are educated” seems pretty disingenuous. that’s kind of the thing about assumptions — they’re often based more on bias than evidence.
Report this comment

regardless, if you’re into mildy offensive, wildly untrue cinema, may i suggest, if you haven’t seen it already, “the hangover.”

the tiger song is pure poetry.
Report this comment

why let that stop you? how often do kids ask for things that are good for them? what’s wrong with gently nudging the kid in a literary direction? if he’s not into it, that’s cool, but he can decide for himself. and there’s no harm in trying.
Report this comment

no one claimed that “women are the best writers because of gender oppression”. read more carefully and that’s pretty easy to see. (assuming you aren’t misreading it deliberately. no, surely that can’t be the case at all!)

“mildly offensive, and wildly untrue”!

haha… sounds like a blurb for a movie i’d like to see.
Report this comment

“And people *are* proposing ways to even the playing field (such as creating more places for women to be published, which does not, as Matt Walker has said elsewhere, mean that there are fewer places for men to publish their work as a result).”

elisa, i am an editor, librarian, and poet, steeped in books and publishing for the past 20 years. i’m surrounded by women and their works on a daily basis. my assumptions are fairly educated.

regardless of any assumptions, does creating your own playing field necessarily even it? for example, do women basketball players, by having their own court, afford them the same money, respect and admiration as their male counterparts? will it ever?

by all reasonable accounts, the literary/academic publishing industry is probably one of the most gender level playing fields in existence, in terms of respect, admiration and money. is it perfect? certainly not. should women have their spaces? sure. why not. but a women’s only project will tend to attract only women. if that is what you are after, fine. just don’t advertise the space with some ludicrous claim about women being the best the writers because of gender oppression. it’s mildly offensive, and wildly untrue.
Report this comment

And thanks for the two links. The first one’s a little sad, though it does make me very happy that we got rid of the TV when we moved north two years ago. The second is really sad. I’m not as surprised as I’d like that “James” encountered the situation she did. Though I’m glad for her that she’s managed to live her life on her terms. More power to her.
Report this comment

PG
Report this comment

After reading all about “James” (thanks for that) I thought you and others might be interested in the feature we just put up this week:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=238584

It’s Michelle Lee’s story of “Michael Field,” a Victorian gentleman poet who happens to have been been the invention of two Victorian women.

-Travis
Report this comment

I wanted to point out a couple of things that your comment reminded me about:
1. A graph of what people do with their time:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html

2. A recent blog post by a women writing under a male pseudonym:
http://www.copyblogger.com/james-chartrand-underpants/

Good luck with the move.
Jessica
Report this comment

PG
Report this comment