lokifan_import

Happy International Women’s Day!

I encourage you all to make a contribution to Amnesty International, who fight for women’s rights around the world – for the prosecution of rapists, the protection of mothers and an end to female foeticide. (If anyone wants to suggest other charities aimed at helping women – especially ones related to education – please do so in comments.)

Since I’m thinking about Jane Eyre anyway (I’m about to do an essay on it) a question for you – do you consider Jane Eyre to be a feminist or proto-feminist book? What sort of statement do you think it makes for its time? If you do consider it feminist, I’d love to know why. And not just because I can use arguments for/against in my essay. ;) I don’t, truthfully; although its protagonist is a woman, and its status as the first English bildungsroman about a girl matters, I don’t see much feminist cred there. “Women feel just as men feel” was not a revolutionary statement to me: the ‘women feel, men analyse’ paradigm was well-entrenched by 1847.

...Heh. I am SUCH an English undergrad today!

You guys might know that it’s the Lambeth Conference this week. The Lambeth Conference is the biggest meeting of the Anglican church there ever is: every bishop from the Church of England can attend.

This one is big news. The General Synod voted today to ordain female bishops. Can I get an Amen? :d

They’re also talking about ordaining gay men as bishops. Unsurprisingly, I absolutely support both these measures! I’m an atheist but I grew up in the Church of England, and I’m worried about what’s going to happen. I am, after all, a bisexual woman and I want others like me to able to advance.

( Cut for those less interested )

The conservative Anglican bishops held their own conference a few weekends ago in Jerusalem, boycotting the Lambeth Conference. They did their own thing, and declared their sexist, homophobic, arguably-not-backed-by-Gospel beliefs. Unfortunately, they had perhaps not checked the dates for the conference well enough. You see, that weekend had another big event happening in Jerusalem...

The Gay Pride parade.

Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humour?