Ten great posts from 10 new (to me) women bloggers.

To begin with a horrible tale on loteria chicana, about a woman who happened to be an illegal immigrant seeking a restraining order against an allegedly abusive husband. The judge found what he thought was a neat solution: force her to flee the court, there’d be no order, and gosh, the couple could even end up back together. She wouldn’t have any choice.

Then not exactly “new” to me, since a Blogcritics regular, but Dawn Olsen hasn’t featured here before, and her post on how American Moms Freak Over Breastsucking Infants is just a must read. It is a mother’s magazine. And there’s a baby feeding on the cover. So?

Getting more cheerful, MsAbcMom enjoys a lively shopping trip in Panama with her family. A very different experience to a similar trip in the US. And great pictures! (Probably not good if you are feeling hungry…)

Speaking of family, on Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, Susan A. Kitchens talks to her mother about HER mother – who graduated from MIT in 1920. That’s what you call a pioneering family tree. (Video)

Quite a bit of art criticism this week, starting with Big A little A. There Kelly Herold finds that stereotypes ruin an otherwise good movie: Monster House.

On Confessions of a Bibliovore (love the name), a review of Dairy Queen, which might be classed as a “young adult” novel. It sees its young heroine running a dairy farm. Perhaps for a slightly younger audience, on Book Moot Camille reviews Let’s Go Pegasus – it is retelling the classic myth, and a chorus of owls sounds like a nice touch.

Then, definitely for grown-ups, A.L. Harper on My Coffee Clatch reviews a novel about Mormons and Salt Lake City. It’s also about sexual addiction. Not at all what you’d expect.

Gillian on gillianic tendencies has been doing her part to raise half a million dollars for cancer research. Boo, hiss to those who questioned her motivation, and good on her for standing up to them.

On Chrissy’s Random Life, subtitled “The Life of an Obsessed Knitter”, you won’t be surprised about the subject of the post to which I’m pointing. But this also has a nice “green” angle, for knitting your own farmers’ market bag has to be the ultimate alternative to using plastic bags for shopping.

If you missed the last edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list, click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales” in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 640, and counting, women bloggers.)

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Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier. Or don’t be shy – nominate yourself! (Thanks to Penny for her suggestions this week!)

The weekend has just got away from me, and I’ve just been reminded of a book I have to read by Tuesday…

Yep, it’s Saturday. Again. Sorry. Should I rename this feature? Well, no, hopefully after this week my life will get a bit more back in balance. That’s the theory anyway…

So, 10 great sites from 10 new (to me) women bloggers.

I’m feeling the need to start with a laugh today (even if it is a laugh with an edge). Science + Professor + Woman = Me is making a start on collecting excellent comebacks for stupid responses to women in science I liked: “Q: So they had to hire a woman… A. It was inevitable. Eventually they were bound to run out of mediocre men, and now the qualified women are finally getting a chance.”

Staying on the scientific side, Amanda M. on Imagine Bright Futures (nice title) chiefly blogs about issues around the liver condition biliary atresia. And she has reason to celebrate: “there are now more families with kids who have biliary atresia (or transplants due to biliary atresia) and who are still alive than ever before in history.”

Carlotta on Dare to Know sets out an argument – as part of a broader defence of creative homeschooling, for children as rational beings.

Time for a bit of light relief – can’t imagine why I haven’t found this blog before: Womenfolk is “the song blog dedicated to women in music. I’ve pointed to the whole blog with that link, for there seems to be quite a range of music – so pick your own favourite.

Then for something completely different, La Journelle Nouvelle de Katherine de Swyneford covers much the same ground as many personal blogs but is written in (if I’m getting my terminology right) Middle English. Great fun – and not at all hard to understand – if you’re having trouble try pronouncing it out loud.

Clothilde on Chocolate & Zucchini has been on a US road trip – as you’d expect, food features highly in the commentary. Ronda Harben on OhMyNews (if it isn’t a blog it is certainly very like one), is meanwhile off to Korea for a site conference, and takes the chance to think about what it is doing and the whole concept of the “citizen journalist”.

Moving off to Europe, on The Armenian Odar (read down the blog to understand the title), Myrthe is writing about Armenian attiudes to people with disabilities. In short, not great.

Turning overtly political to finish, the blogger on Villa Villekulla offers some thoughts on men’s choices, in the context of pornography. And finally, in the read it and weep category, on Joy Unexpected, a mother shares her pain about the changes to her body after pregnancy.

If you missed the last edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list, click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales” in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 640, and counting, women bloggers.)

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Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier. Or don’t be shy – nominate yourself!

Yep, it’s Saturday. Sorry. But do I have some great links this week – remember this is 10 new (to me) female bloggers, on all subjects and across a range of opinions and interests.

Now FFF aren’t usually ranked in any sort of way, but occasionally I’ll put a “should be on your blogroll” link at the top, and this is one such: Natasha on Feminish is quite a new blogger, but has a fascinating, original range of opinions. I’ll point you to her review of Muhajababes, but do check out the whole blog.

Turning even more topical, on Sachiniti, kaveetaa kaul has some worrying questions after the blast in Bombay. On the Resonance Partnership Blog, Marianne Richmond is considering the likely role of blogs in forthcoming US political races.

Jax on Making it Up has been reading the latest Feminist Carnival, and that led her to musing on how to change the world of work to make it practical for women, and men, and the rest of the world – ending the rigid eight-hour day seems a good start. Angel80 is at such work, and finding that women are, at this “equal opportunity employer”, just a make-up-the-numbers afterthought.

Alice Marwick on tiara.org (which has a really great banner picture) is suggesting, rightly not so gently, that regarding “women” as a single market for technology is a little, ah, simplistic.

Then one for the academic readers (since I spent the end of the week mixing with academics) – Dr Four Eyes leaves some interesting thoughts on how to overcome a particular sort of writer’s block, or how to convert a section of your PhD into a journal article.

In the you’ve got to laugh because otherwise you might cry category, “Cranky Old Lady” writes on Time Goes By about the casual ageism that is so prevalent – of course all old people are interested in “shuffleboard and bad dinner theater”.

Turning personal, Beth on So the Fish Said reports on the joys and pains of her “first love” (well mostly pains, which I suspect is usually the case), and what happened when he found her blog.

Finally, Penny Pressed on Fashionable Chaos has a description of what it is like to “go home” as an adult that I’m sure many of us will sympathise with.

If you missed the last edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list, click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales” in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 600 (and counting) women bloggers.)

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Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier. Or don’t be shy – nominate yourself!

Ten great posts from 10 new (to me) women bloggers. It is here every Friday (more or less ..)

Starting political, Comebacknikki on Starfish and Coffee is setting out why she has a little crush on Barack Obama. On Solidly Average, Nio is meanwhile considering the hot US issue of public prayer.

Now I know I’ve pointed to this blog before, but not, I think, particularly to Patricia Lee Sharp, so check out this nuanced view on the current state of Afghanistan, with a brief but informative note on the history of international relations in the region.

Here across the pond, Jane Henry on Maniac Mum has been reflecting on her experience of 7/7 and The Huntress is giving up Grazia magazine. It won’t be much of a wrench: “on every other page I’m faced with something irritating to my feminist viewpoint”.

Churchgal is contemplating issues of contraception and personal autonomy and on Reverend Mommy’s Random Musings, there’s an a fascinating account of church history. This is “where in 1844 the slavewoman Kitty ownership was debated — and the place where the Methodist church split in two over her”.

Now you won’t often find three “religious” bloggers here, but I’m giving myself an extra tick (since I try to range widely) for adding in a post not just about the church, but music as well (another under-represented area), from Steeples & Peoples, about Christian music and the 90/10 rule.

On the personal side: Moving house – you’ve read the stress figures, so sympathise with Aayor, for whom the stresses are stacking up. Weightloss is another huge stress area — which is bigger? perhaps the latter, since house-moving at least usually has a finite timeframe — and Beckie on Becks Challenge sets out her journey.

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If you missed the last edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list, click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales” in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 600 (and counting) women bloggers.)

***

Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier.

Ten great posts from 10 new (to me) women bloggers. It is here every Friday (more or less .. sorry about last week!)

Starting with the highly topical, Sherrilyn Ifill on Blackprof.com has an interesting take on the Supreme Court’s ruling on Bush’s power grab. It seems the splits in US society are being reflected on the court. Staying with the US, on Boiling Over, Michaela B. Reid, the “angry cartoonist”, is offering a blackly comic take on Anne Coulter.

And with Wimbledon on, now’s a good time to point to Kim Pearson’s Blogher site. She’s been celebrating the efforts of Billie Jean King, and finds some prominent women today aren’t living up to the same standards.

Elle Seymour has been at the launch of an organisation called Enterprising Women, which aims to encourage business to start their own businesses. I was surprised to learn that eight or nine men are starting businesses for each woman – seems a high ratio to me, but maybe I just have lots of enterprising female friends and acquaintances.

Also on the political side (Elle is an avowed Tory blogger), I’ve just found a blog by a seriously important politician, Margot Wallerstein, an EU commissioner. And it doesn’t read at all like she set down her junior researcher to do the whole thing. In this post she’s ranging widely, from Sri Lankan conflict to cycling to work.

Kali on MySpace believes that there has to be a whole lot more dancing at the revolution before people will start coming. She believes that over decades she’s seen students become more and more captives of the media cartels.

Turning to more positive topics, the blogger at Toad in the Hole has been visiting the US’s Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Even the fallen trees are beautiful, she finds. “Trees are possibly the best dead things on the planet, by which I mean they leave the handsomest, best-aging, most community-minded (not to mention useful to humans, of course) corpses.”

Stay with nature, Anne Arkham has been visiting a friend who takes in injured wild animals for rehabilitation. Among them now is a week-old fawn. Looks gorgeous.

More personally, on Being Amber Rhea, an account of starting out as a young feminist, age five or so: “I remember the incredulity I felt … when someone would tell me, “Girls can’t [X]!” ”

Then finish with another laugh – Mary on Threadbared.com is contemplating a macrame plant hanger complete with angels. She also does some great things with old sewing patterns.

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If you missed the last edition, it is here. (If you’d like to see all of them as a list, click on the category “Friday Femmes Fatales” in the righthand sidebar. That will take you to a collection of 600 (and counting) women bloggers.)

***

Please: In the next week if you read, or write, a post by a woman blogger and think “that deserves a wider audience” (particularly someone who doesn’t yet get many hits), drop a comment. It really does make my life easier.