Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore by Stella Duffy

How did you come across the book?

Truthfully? I work in the same building as Penguin Publishing, and there’s always free books in the mailroom. Yeah! That’s how I came across it.

So far, what perspective have you gained from this book?

Well… its mainly about a woman who is just trying to find herself… and she’s going through these major changes, so I feel like, in regard to perspective… I mean the character, she’s very daring and true to herself, so I feel if anything, that’s the perspective… to just stay bold!

Would you recommend it, and if so, to who and why?

Yes, I would recommend it. Probably to one of my best friends who is an English teacher, just because I feel like she would appreciate literature taking place in the 6th century. So… that’s who I would recommend it too.

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

How did you come across the book?

Funny you should ask! I’m actually in a book club, and I am about to meet them… um, pretty soon. This was a book that someone else chose. It’s only like five of us, but one of them picked this book for the month… and I’m just about to finish it up. Otherwise, I would never think to pick this out. It’s really good actually… I like it. That’s the part of… the good thing about book club… you read books that you wouldn’t normally pick yourself.

So far, what perspective have you gained from this book?

Well… this is like… kind of a historical account of the Queen of England, in around the early 1500s… and, uh… so I guess it just kind of opened my eyes to thinking… or the logic of that time. I guess that’s pretty much it.

Would you recommend it, and if so, to who and why?

Absolutely! This is… it has a really strong female, hero character… and, so… it shows that women can overcome… we all can overcome.

Korea, Women, Graphic Designers 11

Korean Text: ??, ??, ??? ???? 11

How did you come across the book?

Umm… well… I’m on Twitter now and then and I follow designers… female designers… and it was something that was being mentioned often, so I kind of wanted to check it out. Here I never get to find Korean books, so whenever I visit home I try to get as many books as I can… and this was one of them.

So far, what perspective have you gained from this book?

Well… I’ve just found it really interesting that, although I expected a really aggressive feminism in the design field in Korea, it was actually… like some people were not feeling or experiencing the discrimination… and that some female designers thought themselves lucky enough to have male supporters… like within their family or colleagues. Oh… I also have found it interesting to have female designers, of different age groups, or of different positions in their field… talking to each other in interview format… which was easier for me to read and to understand their perspectives, instead of just long, long writings from one persons perspective… I thought that interview conversation format to be way better for me to absorb. Also… this book looks into the mystery of… [bctt tweet=”Where did all the female art students go?” username=”cityreadsnyc”] …illustrating why some had to stop… and how the survivors survived… since the stats show that the majority of the design students are female yet the notable and established designers are highly consisted of men. It really shows how there are different shapes of feminism… that the individuals experience… and how they deal with it.

Would you recommend it, and if so, to who and why?

Yes, definitely… I would probably recommend it to guys… like, male designers… or non-designers as well. But… I think… you know how guys… I mean I’m not trying to be offensive about this, but… guys would have less experiences of what we experience… and they would probably take it for granted… of what they get in the field. So, if not, that’s great… but in my experience I would not say that, so… yeah… yeah… I think I would recommend it to my designer friends… my male designer friends. Also, I would recommend it to both male and female designers of director positions… thinking and hoping they would gain a better idea of how to enhance the growing female designers to balance their work and life as women better… without having to give one up.