Kickass Women

History is filled with women doing all kinds of kickass stuff.

Smart Girls

Watch these girls... they're going places!

Inspiration

Need a dose of inspiration? Here you go.

SRPS Entertainment

Some of my entertainment recommendations with awesome female characters and stars.

She's Crafty!

Some of the awesome items made by kickass women!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

SRPS Book Shelf: Sadie McGrady, Leading Lady



A while back a friend turned me on to Inkshares as a way to help indie authors get their books published. Since then, I've spent way too much time looking at books and buying books and reading book. OK. I haven't actually read all of the books I've ordered. Some of them haven't even come in yet, since I've only pre-ordered them.

Anyway, this isn't about my overwhelmingly huge to-read pile, both physical and virtual. This is about one of the many fantastic children's books I found there: Sadie McGrady, Leading Lady



I love that this book uses actual photographs, which brings a sense of realness and movement to the story of Sadie McGrady and her quest to become president. And of course, it's quite timely, what with the US elections going on right now. I wanted to know more about the inspiration for this book, so I reached out to its author, Mary Parry, who was gracious enough to answer some of my questions.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Ettie Rout - A problematic hero

I came across this picture of Ettie Annie Rout the other day and decided to do a little research. What I have learned since has inspired me. And saddened me. She was a brave woman who traveled the world during wartime, took an active role addressing serious social issues, and promoted family planning and distributed advice and devices to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies at the risk of her social standing, and often even her personal safety. And much of writings were most certainly classist, if not completely racist.

As often happens when discussing humans, and especially those from other eras, the person who does amazing works is still likely to be a flawed character. The dilemma for any historian, even a part-time history blogger like myself, is how to simultaneously celebrate the parts we like and honestly address the parts we do not. How does one write about the remarkable life of a woman who risked so much to promote safe sex and family planning, while also acknowledging the terrible influence eugenics had on her beliefs? When discussing it on twitter, it was referred to as the "Margaret Sanger problem." Bascially, how do you celebrate a woman who did amazing work, but for ugly reasons?

The best answer I've come up with is to do my best to explore both the positive and negative aspects of a person's life and work. When it comes to white women in the late-19th and early-20th century, too often there is at least a tinge of colonialism, racism, and classism to be dealt with. In some cases, it is a full-on stain, and many times I leave those women for a different discussion. But sometimes, even those whose motivations were the very things we rail against today, their story is still one I find inspirational.

Such is the case with Ettie Rout. From what I can find online, her work prior to World War I was already quite impressive, and while some of the ideas behind her work as a sexual educator during and after the war are, frankly, revolting, her work itself was revolutionary.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Kickstart This! The Hues V2

OK, seriously y'all... you need to check out The Hues. Alex Heberling's comic is chockablock full of amazing characters and excitement. When she describes it as "a little bit Sailor Moon, and a little bit Independence Day" she isn't exaggerating in the least. It really is.


I backed her first Kickstarter even though I barely had $15 to my name, simply because it was too awesome to pass up. When I got the book I read it cover to cover the first evening, and then read it again. I even read it again this afternoon before posting this. I mean, magical girls fighting aliens! It doesn't get better than that.
The Hues is about a group of teenage girls who discover their powers just a little too late-- the Big Bad is already here and they have only a rudimentary grasp of their abilities and what they're supposed to be doing. It all hinges on hints and clues regarding a mysterious person named Jouchi, who may have the answers they seek about how to reclaim their home from the aliens.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Peggy Whitson - astronaut

"Raised on an Iowa farm, but grew up to be a commander of a spaceship." If you're a sci-fi nerd like me, this story sounds very familiar. But in this case, I don't mean Captain James T. Kirk.

I'm talking about Peggy Whitson, biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. She was the first woman to command the International Space Station when she arrived as part of Expedition 16, on October 10, 2007. After her two trips to space, she's NASA's most experienced female astronaut, with more than 376 days in space. And she's going back again in November 2016 as part of Expedition 50/51. At 56, she will be the oldest woman to travel in space.

Peggy was born on February 9, 1960, in Mount Ayr, Iowa, and grew up on a farm nearby. She learned all about determination and hard work watching her parents as they got up before dawn every day to keep the farm running. When she was nine her class watched the live footage of Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon. She was moonstruck. Or, at the very least, space-struck. In 1969, it seemed unlikely that a little girl could become an astronaut, but by the time she graduated from high school things had changed. The same year she received her diploma and looked out at her options was the same year NASA began accepting women. "[A]t that point I thought: this is going to be something I'm going to try and do."

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Kickstart This! Paradox Girl

I love a good time-travel story as much as the next princess, don't get me wrong. But even as a kid, I had to accept the fact that they don't actually make sense from a purely logical standpoint. I suppose I was an adherent to the "wings of a butterfly" line of thinking before I even knew what that was.

Still, I enjoy the fantasy of being able to go back or forward in time, and so I happily wave away those niggling thoughts about cause and effect and whatnot in favor of enjoying the story.



I guess I'm not the only one, because Cayti Bourquin and Yishan Li's latest Kickstarter project Paradox Girl takes the time-travel trope and turns it on its head, giving us a heroine who jumps around trying to fix her fixes. Or something like that.
Paradox Girl's time travel powers aren't bound by the normal rules of cause and effect. Consequences can come before actions. A constantly shifting past means a constantly changing future, the two blending into an endless present. Her timeline criss-crosses over itself again and again. Consequently, she runs into herself a lot—and we mean a lot.
I was fortunate to be able to chat a bit with Paradox Girl's author Cayti Bourquin and editor Peter Bensley about this project and the importance of writing the stories we need to read. Paradox Girl has already met its Kickstarter goal, but you should still consider buying in. Not only will you be getting this fantastic story for yourself, but you'll be showing the comics industry that there really is a market for more female voices!

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Music Break - Irma Thomas

I'm back from spending a week in Louisiana visiting my family, eating tons of delicious food, and doing a lot of sight seeing. One of the many highlights of my trip was getting to see the legendary "Queen of New Orleans" Irma Thomas perform. What an amazing woman!



I knew a couple of her songs from here and there, but seeing her live was a real treat. It felt as though the audience was a gathering of her closest friends, and instead of having a standing set list she just took requests yelled out by the audience.

The only disappointment: I would have loved to see more. But, at nearly 75 years old, it's still pretty awesome that she put on a 75 minute show full of emotion and dancing.

The best part of the show? When she started in singing her Second Line Medley, and a room full of people jumped up and started parading around the room waiving their handkerchiefs and napkins around. One women even brought a small umbrella just for that song.



Her most well-known song was also her first recorded song, "(You Can Have My Husband But Please) Don't Mess With My Man" written by Dorothy LaBostrie. In the over-50 years she has been performing and recording, she's had a slew of hits, and built an almost fanatical following. You can certainly add me to that list as well.

(photo source: nola.com)

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