The most controversial topics often lead to the best discussions, and although controversy is not the focus of the University of Idaho’s Women’s Reading Club, great discussion is.
“Controversy lends itself well to discussion,” said Rami Attebury, Women’s Reading Club co-leader. “One time we talked about the history of the bra, which led to a discussion about things that confine women. You just never know.”
Members of the Women’s Reading Club agreed that men and women should take time to educate themselves about past and present feminist issues.
Amy Sharp, founder and former manager of the club, established it five years ago as an article club and focused on short, slightly controversial articles dealing with women’s issues. The club now focuses on longer works and meets less often to accommodate busy schedules.
Topics have ranged from gender and racial stereotypes to body image, violence, politics and economics.
After a short hiatus, the club was revived in 2010 by Dinah Zeiger, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Media.
“There are certain people who just like to get together and discuss books,” Attebury said. “It’s important to read outside of class, it helps you learn in a way that’s not academic. It becomes a social thing.”
The group takes suggestions for readings via email and at meetings, and tries to include a blend of nonfiction and fiction. Popular books the club has read include “Lolita” and “The Hunger Games” series.
“We even had a few men show up for ‘The Hunger Games,'” Attebury said.
The Women’s Reading Club fluctuates in number depending on the book and who is able to attend meetings, but welcomes people of all backgrounds and genders.
“I think our name confuses people, we would love to have some men
(involved in discussions),” said club member Lysa Salsbury said.
The club recently received grant funding from The American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities to do a short series on “Louisa May Alcott: The Women Behind Little Women.” The book focuses on the scandal and controversy that consumed the lives of the women who inspired Alcott’s most famous novel.
The series will include a book discussion at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center, followed by a documentary at 7:30 p.m. of the same title.
“You don’t have to read the book to attend,” Attebury said.
The club will meet from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday in the Women’s Center Lounge in Memorial Gym to discuss its most recent reading, “Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV” by Jennifer L. Pozner.
The book is meant to deconstruct reality TV and portray the underlying messages shows like “Jersey Shore” and “The Real Housewives of Orange County” send to the public. It focuses on the cultural biases promoted by reality TV, and the way those biases affect the intellectual and political development of the current generation.
“It’s a really topical subject,” Salsbury said. “There’s something about watching other people’s mishaps that is appealing to us as human beings.”