Iris: A Journal About Women articles from March 2004

Iris: A Journal About Women archives from March 2004

Editor's letter.(Editorial)
March 22, 2004... "Do It Yourself" seemed an appropriate, though coincidental, theme for my first issue as iris's coordinating editor. Running a magazine of iris's strong caliber but small budget involves a great deal of DIY ingenuity. Along with this...

Say what?
March 22, 2004... iris celebrates independent women by sharing inspiring and insightful quotes by women who did it themselves. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but...

Woman Under the Washington Street Church, 1853.(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 22, 2004... Woman Under the Washington Street Church, 1853 She was buried under glass, almost floating in the churchyard. One winter Sherman said, Lie down to sleep, safe in my hands as if wholly your own, then burnt the town, the...

Fuel your involvement.
March 22, 2004... CRAFTERS: TAKE YOUR MARK! The first annual Renegade Craft Fair took place September 20, 2003 and is planning its second event for September of 2004. This fair focuses on the spectacular and exceptional talents of 75 femme renegades,...

The corner table at Cafe Noir: a 10 minute play.(Play)
March 22, 2004... TIME: The hazy moments just before waking and just after PLACE: Somewhere between dream and reality SET: 2 tables, 4 chairs, and a clock radio AT RISE: A MAN and a WOMAN are sitting at a table. SHE is attracted to HIM in a way...

Heat.(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 22, 2004... HEAT In the summer of wanting a child, what the body remembers is stepping into a hundred degrees' heat, the wind a warm breath at the backs of your knees. To think, this year your posture begins to resemble...

The voice project: speaking out of necessity.
March 22, 2004... I don't know exactly where I escape to when I am in the class, but I am no longer encircled by the fences that close me in. I am mentally free to speak my mind, to voice my opinion without judgment or condemnation. It is truly a gift of...

Turning 19 at Eat'n Park.(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 22, 2004... Turning 19 at Eat'n Park Beside the dumpster, Michele lights a birthday blunt in my honor. We're still in our uniforms, aprons heavy with wet rags and quarters. Weed passes around slow, tired waitress...

Reasonable person: a feminist goes to law school, Part IV.
March 22, 2004... So what about the law school experience is diverting even the most seriously compelled by public-interest work into private practice? What is happening to us--even in our first year, even at a school that provides public-interest resources as...

Doing feminist theatre.(Politics in the spotlight)
March 22, 2004... I was not long into directing my first feminist play at UVA, Eve Merriam's The Club,, when I became freshly aware that the process of preparing an explicitly political show that is, just about any show I would care to direct--for staged...

Feminist pop quiz.(United States)
March 22, 2004... 1. You walk into class and sit down next to a couple of your guy friends who happen to be discussing their plans for the coming years. You join the conversation, saying you might be thinking about being a lawyer and going into politics. "But...

When she was made: Edie Carey reflects on becoming a musician.
March 22, 2004... A few weeks back I was working on an article offering advice to new performing songwriters. I was focusing on the nitty-gritty of getting started out--going to open mikes, forming songwriting groups, booking your first show--but as I sat...

Room.(Short Story)
March 22, 2004... Around seven, Annie makes her first mistake of the evening by putting on a new, white fleece-lined jacket over her black cocktail dress to go out and walk the dog. It is getting toward the end of September and nights are colder now, dimmer,...

The voice of "Angry Little Girls" cartoonist Lela Lee.(Interview)
March 22, 2004... Are you disenchanted? Perhaps you feel exhausted by what you see around you. Maybe you're just angry. Do something about it. Until then, be inspired by someone who is doing something through her art. Lela Lee's do-it-yourself attitude has led...

Snapshots through Africa: a woman's journey with independence.
March 22, 2004... Three years ago, the longest I had ever been away from my hometown of Charlottesville in my entire life was a month. Yes, a mere thirty days. And my experiences on Martha's Vineyard hardly counted as expanding my horizons. I had traveled...

Three Fences: Charlottesville and the specter of casual segregation.(racial segregation methods, history, housing and labor)
March 22, 2004... Unless you have spent the past five years nestled comfortably under a rock, you know by now that Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings. Based both on DNA testing performed in 1998 as well as a number of...

DIY: voting.(do-it-yourself)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2004... If you don't vote, you can't complain... How would you like to have your boss decide how much you will be in debt after college, your grandfather choose whether you or your friends will fight in Iraq, or your economics professor select...

Fashion in the City with Beth Buccini and Sarah Easley: business owners of Kirna Zabete, a New York City boutique.(includes "Girl on the Street")(Interview)
March 22, 2004... They met when they moved into Hancock during their first year at the University of Virginia, but little did best friends Sarah Easley and Beth Buccini know that less than ten years later they would be founders and owners of a New York City...

*.(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 22, 2004... Untitled If my hair turns completely gray will people stop saying I'm too young to be your mother? Fearsome child--moons in your ears, gems in your nose, quills bristling all around your throat. ...

Kicking the habit.(miscarriage)(includes "Girl on the Street")
March 22, 2004... They call me a Habitual Aborter. "They" being the medical practitioners, that is. The doctors and nurses scribble it on my bulging chart in hieroglyphics nobody can read, but the gist is clear enough. With self-discipline and a support group...

Homemakers: an interview with Gabrielle Harris and Ginny Behrens.(Habitat for Humanity)(Interview)
March 22, 2004... I walk into the house to see several women making chocolate-chip cookies. What appears to be a mundane activity is actually the testing of the oven they have just installed. These women are homemakers, but not in the common usage of the term....

Doing it ourselves: female masturbation past and present.(a good marriage is like gold)
March 22, 2004... Consider: almost all male mammals stimulate their genitals to the point of orgasm. Surprised? Before you snicker "not at all" with an eyeroll aimed at all the uber-horny male species with whom we share the planet, consider the fact that many...

"Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya become a feminist?".
March 22, 2004... While women today inundate political groups, sports teams, and academic honor societies on college campuses, they once reigned over only two sectors in university life: feminist groups and sororities. Both organizations were originally...

Biancheria.(women's art)(includes "Girl on the Street")
March 22, 2004... Here was the plan: I would arrive at my mother's house armed with yarn, needles, and an instruction manual, Beginner's Guide to Crochet. While she underwent chemotherapy, we would learn to crochet, a fairly untaxing activity that we could do...

Paradise by the dashboard light: a hands-on guide to basic car care.(women and technology)
March 22, 2004... From the moment I received and signed the yellow form stating that yes, indeed, I had just passed my road test (after failing miserably the first time, unbeknown to my blonde, middle-aged driving instructor), I've experienced recurring...

More than a job: women and personal finance.(business degrees)
March 22, 2004... "So what do you want to do?" It may seem like a vague question to you, but last year, starting my first year of MIT Sloan's MBA program, I knew exactly what it meant. People do not get an MBA from Sloan just to "learn a bit more about...

DIY: kicking cancer (a woman's story).(do-it-yourself)(includes "Helpful Financial Tips")
March 22, 2004... Breast Cancer * According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, women should start giving themselves monthly breast exams at age 20 and get their baseline mammogram at age 40. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer...

Finding peace with panic.(narrative)(includes "Women Inventors and Discoveries by Women")
March 22, 2004... I can remember exactly when it first happened. I had just returned to the university after a semester abroad in Spain and a bout with mono. I felt extremely tired and run down, so I wasn't surprised to find my heart racing after rushing into...

DIY: preparing for graduate school--taking time off.(do-it-yourself)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2004... After you decide on the schools that most appeal to you for graduate school, you will want to determine the best time to apply Since the average age of students in most graduate programs is 27-30, it is safe to say that taking time off before...

DIY: cooking with flair.
March 22, 2004... These recipes bring back memories from my teenage years in England. At the time it was my job to cook this meal for Sunday lunch, something I looked forward to each week. My mom taught me what to do and I kept practicing, because I wanted...

Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons.(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons Lynn Peril W. W. Norton & Company, 2002 The notion that American popular culture has almost always portrayed women as inferior beings by utilizing a variety of subtle and...

Catfight: Women and Competition.(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Catfight: Women and Competition Leora Tanenbaum Seven Stories Press, 2002 In Catfight, Leora Tanenbaum explores a topic women are often reluctant to recognize and admit, and she has done so in such an open and honest fashion that...

Built to Win: the Female Athlete as Cultural Icon.(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Built to Win: The Female Athlete as Cultural Icon Leslie Heywood and Shari L. Dworkin University of Minnesota, 2003 You've seen them: the stick-thin, airbrushed girls smiling complacently (or seductively) from the covers of magazines in...

Perfectionism and Contemporary Feminist Values.(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Perfectionism and Contemporary Feminist Values Kimberly Yuracko Indiana University Press, 2003 Women have the vote, the pill, and even a place in professional athletics, yet feminists continue to wrestle with elusive uneasiness, knowing...

Looking Good: College Women and Body Image, 1875-1930.(Book Review)
March 22, 2004... Looking Good: College Women and Body Image, 1875-1930 Margaret A. Lowe John Hopkins University Press, 2003 Eating disorders are not a new college phenomenon. While Margaret Lowe's Looking Good." College Women and Body Image, 1875-1930 is...

DIY: contraceptives.
March 22, 2004... In the early 1960s, the introduction of the pill to the national scene opened the door to increased sexual freedom among the heterosexually inclined. Women, much to the chagrin of conservatives, could finally take reproduction into their own...

Self-Help Manual.(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 22, 2004... Self-Help Manual At my best, I am the eye of noon staring beyond itself, worst, the updraft of a Harris hawk before it tucks black wings to dive, severing the pigeon's neck. Sometimes I am as stubbornly habitual...

When I Was Made.(Sound Recording Review)
March 22, 2004... When I Was Made Edie Carey Edie Carey, 2003 I am a virgin in the wide world of music. I have tried many times to broaden my insufficient understanding of beats, chords, and vocals, but, sadly, I have failed. The main problem is that I...

The Diary of Alicia Keys.(Sound Recording Review)
March 22, 2004... The Diary of Alicia Keys Alicia Keys J Records, 2003 I usually don't listen to R&B--as a rule, I stick to folk music and alternative rock. However, I've been working to expand my tastes recently, and a friend mentioned that he was...

In the Zone.(Sound Recording Review)
March 22, 2004... In the Zone Britney Spears Jive, 2003 Here's a thought: I'm going to talk about Britney Spears's music. I'm not going to talk about her latest media antics (breakup, kiss, marriage, divorce, etc.), and I'm not going to talk about how...

Faith (10,000 things).(sculptor and installation artist Jennifer Reifsneider)
March 22, 2004... If you have faith even as a grain of mustard, you may say to that mountain, "move from here over to there," and the mountain will move, and nothing shall be impossible. The Gospel of Jesus According to St. Matthew The Tao gives birth to...