The book of the month is "Gingerbread" by Helen Oyeyemi.
Trigger warnings: None I could find. I will update this if anyone has more information and would like to let me know.
We had no suggestions, so I chose this one. I chose it because we've had requests for foreign authors (most have been from the US), and varied genres. Though the author does not appear to like the term magical realism, I hope this book might hit the mark for some people that had requested more of that. Though it's not necessarily a holiday novel as suggested, I hope the folklore inspirations and through line of gingerbread have at least a little holiday magic. Feel free to comment your suggestions for next month!
Springboard Questions
I would like to include some discussion questions that are community specific and relevant to feminism, and not generic book club questions, so these will likely be questions I ask regarding every work, subject to change of course.
Some things to think about while reading:
- Do you think this work is told from a feminist perspective? Why?
- Do you think the authors gender or gender identity affected their choice of subject, writing style, or perspective character?
- Does the narrators gender or gender identity affect the work? If so, how?
- Did this work change your opinion on anything? If so, what and why?
This is not a homework assignment. You can choose to address any or none of the questions posed here, or talk about your general thoughts or whatever else. Please feel free to pose your own questions in the comments as well. These should serve as a handy springboard if needed, but not a mandatory outline for your comment.
The movie of the month is Carol (2015)
Trigger warnings (per AI - I want to be as complete as possible with these so if the AI one seems more complete than what I find elsewhere I use that): nudity, sex and sexuality, psychological abuse, homophobia, institutional abuse, and alcohol/smoking
We had no suggestions this month, so I picked this since it takes place around the holidays (we can have a Diehard style discussion of it's a Christmas movie in the comments). It was also well reviewed with several awards, and was written by a woman. There seem to be a few sites where it is available for streaming, some of which are free with ads, so hopefully everyone will have at least one way they can watch.
Springboard Questions
Same spiel as above: I would like to include some discussion questions that are community specific and relevant to feminism, and not generic movie club questions, so these will likely be questions I ask regarding every work, subject to change of course.
Some things to think about while watching:
- Do you think this work is told from a feminist perspective? Why?
- Do you think the authors gender or gender identity affected their choice of subject, writing style, or perspective character?
- Does the narrators gender or gender identity affect the work? If so, how?
- Did this work change your opinion on anything? If so, what and why?
This is not a homework assignment. You can choose to address any or none of the questions posed here, or talk about your general thoughts or whatever else. Please feel free to pose your own questions in the comments as well. These should serve as a handy springboard if needed, but not a mandatory outline for your comment.
Comments are spoilers territory.
If you want to use spoiler tags in the comments, please do, but it is not required. If you venture into the comments please keep in mind this is a discussion thread for media so there will likely be spoilers.
Going forward
This is a community project. I would like to get input regarding written works and tv/movies that would be a good fit for this. I will leave a comment on this thread that you can respond to if you'd like to offer a suggestion. One suggestion per comment please. You can comment multiple times though. I'd like to make sure the selections are widely accessible, so please add that information if you know for sure something is in the public domain or available online, as that makes it easier to recommend. If you commented suggestions last month and they were not chosen, please feel free to comment them again! I will try to favor the most voted on replies each month, and if you don't comment this month it won't be considered unless there are no other suggestions. Please vote on the other comments you see there (I will not be voting since I'm organizing). I'd like to pair heavier topics in one media with lighter topics in the other, just in case you're wondering why a specific piece was not chosen. Things like language or availability may also affect the selection. I'm also open to changing or adding discussion questions.
Excited to hear your perspectives on this month's picks!
Please feel free to participate in previous conversations. Here is a running list of our prior months:
https://lemmus.org/post/16011446
https://lemmus.org/post/16649908
https://lemmus.org/post/17483092
PS: Even if you have seen or read the media for this month before, I would encourage a reread or rewatch to best participate in the discussion!