Hey there word nerds!
Today I have the absolute pleasure of speaking with co-authors Anita Sarkeesian and Ebony Adams on the show!
Anita is an award-winning media critic and the creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency, an educational nonprofit that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. She is best known as the creator and host of the highly influential video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, and she dreams of owning a life-size replica of Buffy’s scythe.
Ebony Adams is an author, activist, and former college educator whose work foregrounds the lives and work of black women in the diaspora. She writes widely on film criticism, social justice, and pop culture, and lives with a steadily-increasing collection of Doctor Who memorabilia.
On top of all this these ladies are now co-authors of the YA nonfiction book History vs. Women: The Defiant Lives that They Don’t Want You to Know, which is a fascinating (and aesthetically beautiful) book highlighting the lives of women who made an impact on the world.
I couldn’t help but fall in love with this book! First off, with its gorgeous illustrations, my inner graphic design geek went off the charts. Then there is the subject matter, which is something I feel super-passionate about, and the fact that it’s YA makes this book even better. When we share the stories of strong, impactful women throughout history with the young women of today, we’re not just empowering the young generation. We’re empowering everybody to help make our culture and our society better.
So listen in as Anita, Ebony, and I chat about this truly awesome book, and the importance of challenging our own perspectives through what we read and what we write.
In this episode Anita, Ebony and I discuss:
- The research technique of “insistent archaeology”.
- How to translate scholarly texts into exciting stories.
- The dangers of passive reading.
- Advantages of the YA genre to get unknown stories out there.
- Why stories about women should be shared with young children of all genders.
Plus, both of these lovely ladies’ #1 tip for writers.
About Anita Sarkeesian
Anita Sarkeesian is an award-winning media critic and the creator and executive director of Feminist Frequency, an educational nonprofit that explores the representations of women in pop culture narratives. Best known as the creator and host of Feminist Frequency’s highly influential video series Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, Anita lectures at universities, conferences and game development studios around the world.
Anita dreams of owning a life-size replica of Buffy’s scythe, and she is the co-author along with Ebony Adams of History vs Women which is available now.
To connect with Anita check out her website at www.anitasarkeesian.com or hit her up on Twitter at @anitasarkeesian.
About Ebony Adams
Ebony Adams, Ph.D. is an author, activist, and former college educator whose work foregrounds the lives and work of black women in the diaspora. She lives in Los Angeles with a steadily-increasing collection of Doctor Who memorabilia.
She writes widely on film criticism, social justice, and pop culture, and along with Anita Sarkeesian is the co-author of History vs Women.
To connect with Ebony hit her up on Twitter at @ebonyaster.
To learn more about Anita and Ebony’s organization Feminist Frequency, head over to feministfrequency.com.
And don’t forget to check out Anita and Ebony, along with their co-host Carolyn Petit, on their podcast Feminist Frequency Radio.
History vs Women: The Defiant Lives that They Don’t Want You to Know
Rebels, rulers, scientists, artists, warriors and villains, women are, and have always been, all these things and more.
Looking through the ages and across the globe, Anita Sarkeesian, founder of Feminist Frequency, along with Ebony Adams, has a PhD in English, have reclaimed the stories of twenty-five remarkable women who dared to defy history and change the world around them. From Mongolian wrestlers to Chinese pirates, Native American ballerinas to Egyptian scientists, Japanese novelists to British Prime Ministers, History vs Women will reframe the history that you thought you knew.
Featuring beautiful full-color illustrations of each woman and a bold graphic design, this standout nonfiction title is the perfect read for teens (or adults!) who want the true stories of phenomenal women from around the world and insight into how their lives and accomplishments impacted both their societies and our own.
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Link to Episode 242
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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!
